Dehydraatiolle

Dehydraatiolle is a term used in speculative chemistry to denote a class of dehydration-assisted rearrangement reactions that convert polyfunctional alcohols into unsaturated compounds via elimination and rearrangement steps. It is not currently recognized in mainstream chemical nomenclature.

The name combines dehydr- from dehydration, the root -atio- from reaction concepts, and the suffix -olle in a fictional naming convention. It was proposed in theoretical discussions to describe a proposed mechanism in which intramolecular dehydration drives isomerization, potentially forming conjugated systems.

In the hypothetical mechanism, an alcohol becomes protonated, water leaves to form a carbocation, followed by rearrangement and a second elimination to furnish an alkene or conjugated polyene. The reaction is predicted to be highly dependent on solvent, acid strength, and temperature, with competing hydration and polymerization pathways.

Scope and applications: In theory, dehydraatiolle could enable the selective formation of unsaturated motifs from polyols, providing routes to polyenes, furans, or cross-conjugated structures, especially in carbohydrate chemistry or polymer precursors. However, no widely accepted experimental demonstration exists, and it remains speculative.

Critical reception: The concept has appeared mainly in speculative reviews and theoretical discussions; some chemists question its feasibility due to challenges in selectivity and competing side reactions. As a result, dehydraatiolle is treated as a conceptual tool rather than a proven method.