--- title: "Dehydration of an alcohol (E1) Template | MolDraw" url: https://www.moldraw.com/templates/alcohol-dehydration/ description: "Dehydration of an alcohol (E1) template: 2-Methylbutan-2-ol with hot concentrated acid: O-protonation, loss of water to the tertiary cation and loss of a β-H…" lang: en publisher: Scidart Academy generated: 2026-11-13 --- [MolDraw](https://www.moldraw.com/) › [Templates](https://www.moldraw.com/templates/) › [Mechanisms](https://www.moldraw.com/templates/mechanisms/) › Dehydration of an alcohol (E1) [Mechanisms](https://www.moldraw.com/templates/mechanisms/)Premium # Dehydration of an alcohol (E1) template ![Dehydration of an alcohol (E1) template: 2-Methylbutan-2-ol with hot concentrated acid: O-protonation, loss of water to the tertiary cation and loss of a β-H give 2-methylbut-2-ene (Zaitsev).](https://www.moldraw.com/templates/alcohol-dehydration.webp) [Edit in MolDraw](https://www.moldraw.com/)Download with Pro Premium template. Preview and edit it free in MolDraw; downloading and exporting it is part of [MolDraw Pro](https://www.moldraw.com/pricing). 2-Methylbutan-2-ol with hot concentrated acid: O-protonation, loss of water to the tertiary cation and loss of a β-H give 2-methylbut-2-ene (Zaitsev). ## Mechanism step by step Acid turns OH into a leaving group; the carbocation loses a β-proton to give the more substituted alkene 1. **Protonation** – OH becomes OH₂⁺, a good leaving group 2. **Loss of water (slow)** – A tertiary carbocation forms 3. **Loss of a β-proton** – Water takes H from CH₂: the trisubstituted alkene ## Key points - Zaitsev: losing H from CH₂ gives the more substituted, more stable alkene; 2-methylbut-1-ene is the minor product. - Ease of dehydration: 3° > 2° > 1° alcohol (primary alcohols react by E2 at higher temperature). - Distilling the alkene out as it forms pulls the equilibrium over; H₃PO₄ chars less than H₂SO₄. - Carbocation rearrangements (hydride or methyl shifts) can change the carbon skeleton. Drawn with 60 atoms, 9 arrows, 7 shapes – every one editable in MolDraw. ## Sources - [Clayden, Greeves & Warren, Organic Chemistry, 2nd ed., OUP 2012, ch. 17](https://openlibrary.org/isbn/9780199270293) Textbook - [Smith, March's Advanced Organic Chemistry, 8th ed., Wiley 2020, ch. 17](https://openlibrary.org/isbn/9781119371809) Textbook ## How to use this template 1. Press **Edit in MolDraw**. The template opens on the canvas of the free MolDraw editor. 2. Change anything: move structures, edit atoms and labels, recolour highlights or delete what you do not need. 3. Add your own structures, arrows and text next to it, or combine several templates on one page. 4. Export the drawing as PNG, SVG or PDF for slides, worksheets, theses and papers. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is the Dehydration of an alcohol (E1) template free? You can preview the Dehydration of an alcohol (E1) template here and open and edit it in MolDraw for free. Downloading or exporting it is part of MolDraw Pro, together with the other premium templates. ### Can I edit the Dehydration of an alcohol (E1) template? Yes. It opens as an ordinary MolDraw drawing, so every structure, arrow, label and colour can be changed, and you can add your own content around it. ### Is the chemistry checked? Every structure is checked with RDKit and every curly arrow passes MolDraw’s electron-flow audit. The sources used are listed on this page. ### What is a curly-arrow mechanism template? A ready-made drawing of a reaction mechanism in which curved arrows show where electron pairs move in each step. 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