Question

What is the base in the hydration of an alkene?

Answer 1

For example, let us take propene with H2OHX2O and H2SO4HX2SOX4. We know that it follows Marvoknikov's Rule in that the hydrogen goes to the carbon with the most hydrogens ("the rich get richer") and water then attacks the carbocation. Now with H2OHX2O attached to the molecule, a base shows up producing out alcohol, 2-propanol. My question is what is this base? Obviously the sulfate ion is a very weak base since H2SO4HX2SOX4 is a strong acid (the conjugate HSO4−HSOX4X− is a weak base, so the ion must also be weak).

Answer 2

The addition of water to an alkene in the presence of a catalytic amount of strong acid leads to the formation of alcohols (hydroxy‐alkanes). ... 2.An acid‐base reaction occurs between the water molecule and the carbocation, forming an oxonium ion.