Hydration of olefins

Patent Pending For the hydration of alkenes, the general chemical equation of the reaction is the following: RRC=CH2 in H2O/acid → RRC(-OH)-CH3 A hydroxyl group (OH−) attaches to one carbon of the double bond, and a proton (H+) adds to the second carbon center. The reaction is highly exothermic. In the first step, the alkene acts as a nucleophile and attacks the proton, following Markovnikov's rule. In the second step an H2O molecule bonds to the other, more highly substituted carbon. The oxygen atom at this point has three bonds and carries a positive charge (i.e., the molecule is an oxonium). Another water molecule comes along and takes up the extra proton. This reaction tends to yield many undesirable side products, (for example diethyl ether in the process of creating Ethanol) and in its simple form described here is not considered very useful for the production of alcohol.