Hydration
Propene gives propan-2-ol through hydration.
- Reagents
- Water; acid catalyst
- Conditions
- Acid-catalysed hydration; process conditions depend on the system
- Reaction class
- Hydration
- Equation
- C3H6 + H2O -> C3H8O
Overview
Propene gives propan-2-ol through hydration.
Transformation
- Equation
- C3H6 + H2O -> C3H8O
- Reactants
- Propene + Water
- Products
- Propan-2-ol
- Reagents
- Water; acid catalyst
- Environment
- Acid-catalysed hydration; process conditions depend on the system
- Reaction class
- Hydration
- Mechanism
- hydration
- Evidence level
- source-backed molecular example
Scope and limitations
- Scope
- Named propene example; not a class-wide route prediction.
- Limitations
- The named product is propan-2-ol, not propan-1-ol. Ethene process settings must not be copied to propene.
Related reactions
- Oxidation: Propan-2-ol → Propanone
Propan-2-ol is oxidised to propanone.
- Reduction: Propanone → Propan-2-ol
Propanone is reduced to propan-2-ol.
- Hydrobromination: Propene → 2-Bromopropane
Protonation of propene favours the secondary carbocation over a primary one. Bromide then forms the C-Br bond at the central carbon.
- Hydrolysis: 2-Bromopropane → Propan-2-ol
Replacing the carbon-bromine bond with carbon-oxygen bonding produces propan-2-ol. Its central carbon remains secondary, explaining its subsequent oxidation to propanone.
References
- Direct hydration of alkenesJim Clark · Chemguide · 2015
Named molecular transformation examples, checked 2026-09-08.