The Chugaev elimination is a chemical reaction that involves the elimination of water from primary alcohols to produce terminal alkenes. The intermediate is a xanthate. In chemistry, an alcohol is any organic compound in which a hydroxyl group (-OH) is bound to a carbon atom of an alkyl or substituted alkyl group. ... An alkene in organic chemistry is an unsaturated hydrocarbon containing at least one carbon to carbon double bond. ... Xanthates are the salts of xanthic acid, C2H5OCS2H. Many xanthates have a yellow colour, which gives the compound its name (Greek xanthos means yellow). ...

In the first step, a potassium xanthate is formed out of the alkoxide and carbon disulfide (CS₂). With iodomethane, it is transformed into a thioester. An alkoxide has an organic group bonded to a negatively charged oxygen atom, they are generally basic. ... Carbon disulfide (CS2) is a colorless liquid with a pleasant odor that is like the smell of chloroform. ... Iodomethane, commonly called methyl iodide, is a dense volatile liquid. ... Thioesters are compounds resulting from the bonding of sulfur with an acyl group (an alkyl group attached to a carbon-oxygen double bond), with the general formula R-S-CO-R. Some biochemists believe that the thioester bond was critical for the origin of life. ...

At about 200 °C, the alkene is formed by a syn-elimination. In a 6-membered cyclic transition state the hydrogen atom is moved from the β-C-atom to the sulfur. The side product decomposes to carbonyl sulfide (OCS) and methanethiol. An elimination reaction is a type of organic reaction in which two substituents are removed from a molecule in either a one or two-step mechanism. ... Except where noted otherwise, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °C, 100 kPa) Infobox disclaimer and references Carbonyl sulfide is a colourless gas at room temperature with an unpleasant odor. ... Methanethiol (also known as methyl mercaptan) is a colorless gas with a smell like rotten cabbage. ...

Reference

Latscha, Hans P. Chemie-Basiswissen. Berlin(2002): Springer.