Dehydration Synthesis Definition
Dehydration synthesis refers to the formation of larger molecules from smaller reactants, accompanied by the loss of a water molecule. Many reactions involving dehydration synthesis are associated with the formation of biological polymers where the addition of each monomer is accompanied by the elimination of one molecule of water.
Dehydration reactions are a subset of condensation reactions where two functional groups combine to form a covalent bond along with the release of a small molecule such as water, HCl, methanol or acetic acid. Though all these small molecules are frequently seen in large-scale industrial synthesis of organic molecules, in biological systems, water is the most frequent byproduct of a condensation reaction.
