Endothermic reaction dehydration of alcohols

The lesser driving force of the aldol reaction of ketones is due to the greater stability of a ketone than an aldehyde [about 3 kcal mol (12.5 kJ mol )]. As a result, the aldol addition of ketones is endothermic. To drive the reaction forward, we can extract the product alcohol continuously from the reaction mixture as it is formed. Alternatively, under more vigorous conditions, dehydration and removal of water move the equilibrium toward the a, -unsaturated ketone (see margin). 

Where the rate is first-order in catalyst,an interpretation of the rate data is possible but always subject to uncertainties in our knowledge of the sorption isotherms of all species involved in the mechanism. Let us consider, for example, the decomposition of a single molecular species on a catalyst surface. An example might be the dehydration of alcohols on the surfaces of metal oxides such as alumina gel at 300 C to give an olefin plus water. This endothermic reaction, which is thermodynamically favored in the gas phase by an entropy increase of about 36 e.u., can be written as 

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