The mechanism of the acid-catalyzed dehydration of an alcohol to an alkene is the revers...

The mechanism of the acid-catalyzed dehydration of an alcohol to an alkene is the reverse of the acidcatalyzed hydration of an alkene. The dehydration mechanism occurs by the following three steps.

Step 1: Add a proton.

Step 2: Break a bond to form stable molecules or ions.

Step 3: Take away a proton.

These three steps are illustrated here by the dehydration of 2-butanol to give 2-butene.

Use curved arrows to show the flow of electrons in each step; that is, show how each bond-making or bond-breaking step occurs.