E2 with primary alcohols plausible?

[JP2740]

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This doesn't really seem plausible to me. Could this really happen?

 

[Cool Beans]

The only time you'll see such a possibility is in substitution with HCl, HBr, etc. The OH gets protonated to become water (a good leaving group). Tertiary and secondary alcohols will undergo E1 as they can form carbocations that are stable enough. But primary and methyl alcohols undergo E2 since E1 won't occur if it has to proceed through a primary or methyl carbocation.

 

[PiBond]

it's possible for a primary alkyl halide to undergo E2, but only if the base is strong and bulky base like tBuOK...not sure about alcohols though