Dehydration Lab Report

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Introduction Dehydration is defined as a process of removing water from a substance. The loss of water from a molecule is called dehydration which is exactly opposite with the process of hydrolysis. Dehydration is an elimination reaction of an alcohol involves the loss of an OH from one carbon and an H from an adjacent carbon. Overall, this amounts to the elimination of a molecule of water, resulting in a pi-bond formation of an alkene or alkyne. In most of the dehydration of alcohol, heat and catalyze are needed in the reaction. Sulphuric acid (H2SO4) and phosphoric acid (H3PO4) are the most commonly used acid catalysts. The dehydration process can be carried out by in two ways. The first way is heating a mixture of alcohol and dehydrating …show more content…

Use glassware as directed by your instructor. Place a test tube placed inside a beaker with ice water to collect the product from the apparatus. Obtain the 10mL round bottom flask from the apparatus. Obtain two graduated cylinders of 10mL. On one graduated cylinder measure 4mL (85% H3PO4) of Phosphoric Acid and pour into the 10mL round bottom flask. On the other graduated cylinder measure 3mL of Cyclohexanol and pour into the flask as well. With a pipet add 5 drops of Sulfuric Acid (H2SO4) into the flask. Attach the round bottom flask to the distillation apparatus. Place thermometer with rubber stopper on the apparatus to obtain the temperature Start with the water flow through the condenser. Turn on and heat the reaction until the product starts to distill. Distill and collect until thermometer temperature rises to 85˚C. Once there is no more product to collect obtain the test tube of product. Two layers should be formed, top layer of cyclohexane and bottom layer with water. Obtain a pipette and remove the bottom layer (water) if any. Add 10% (5mL) of Sodium Bicarbonate (NaHCO3) to nuclearize any acid in the solution. Mix well and remove once again the bottom layer of water with pipette. Add 5mL of water and mix well to wash the top layer. After the two layers form again, remove entirely the bottom layer of water and add a few pellets of Calcium Chloride. Obtain a 50mL or 100mL beaker and weigh.

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