Intermolecular Dehydration

Another important chemical property of carboxylic acids is their ability to undergo intermolecular dehydration with a variety of other kinds of compounds.

For the moment we will consider only the intermolecular dehydration of carboxylic acids with alcohols. An equation for that reaction is shown here (and in Example 7 in your workbook). The product of the reaction, along with water, is an ester. We will study esters later in this lesson.

Notice again in this example of intermolecular dehydration that an -OH is taken from one molecule and -H is taken from another molecule to form H₂O and that the remaining parts of the two molecules are joined together to make a new larger molecule. This reaction is catalyzed by the presence of a strong acid, as shown by the H⁺ above the arrow.

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