[colormelovibond]

Say I want to remove an OH group from a carbon and replace it with just a H.  Example, turn methanol into methane (it's actually a far more complicated system, but this is just simplified).  CH3OH -> CH4 + H20

Thinking simplisticly, H2 should do the trick.  Afterall, I just need two hydrogens to complete the reaction to make methane and water.  Surely it's not that simple.  I need someone to tell me something's wrong here.  Must all components be in the gaseous phase for the reaction to proceed?

Thanks.

[Dan]

The problem with treating the alcohol directly with H₂ is that the reaction will be so slow you will be waiting forever.

The trick is to start by converting the OH into a better leaving group (any ideas?). Using this idea, there are several ways to do this, the choice will depend on the rest of the molecule.