PREDICT THE MAJOR PRODUCT OF THE ACID CATALYZED DEHYDRATION OF BUTAN-1-OL, EXPLAINING HOW IT IS THE MAJOR PRODUCT.

Hi,

the major product is 2-Butene.....

there may be a dought that why 1-Butene is not formed by undergoing E2 elimination being substrate a primary alcohol...

To undergo dehydration an alcohol must be protonated, and therefore an acidic medium is required. For E2 elimination we need a fairly strong base  to attack the sibstrate without waiting for it to dissociate into carbocations.But a strong base and an acid medium are ,of course, incompatible: any base  much stronger than the alcohol itself would become protonated at the expense of the alcohol. Forced, then, to take place in the absence of strong base, dehydration generally follows the carbocation route.