Final answer:
Dehydration synthesis involves the formation of an organic molecule through a covalent bond, releasing a water molecule as the byproduct.
Step-by-step explanation:
Dehydration synthesis requires the synthesis of an organic molecule with a covalent bond that is broken in the final condensation step. In this process, one reactant gives up a hydrogen atom, and another reactant gives up a hydroxyl group (OH). This leads to the synthesis of a new product, and in the formation of their covalent bond, a molecule of water is released as a byproduct.
Through dehydration synthesis, monomers are joined by the removal of OH from one monomer and the removal of H from the other at the site of bond formation. As additional monomers join, a chain of repeating monomers forms a polymer.
This type of reaction not only exemplifies dehydration synthesis, which means 'to put together while losing water,' but also indicates a condensation reaction, in which two molecules produce a larger molecule with the loss of a small molecule, water in this case.