Final answer:
The addition of water to cycloheptene in the presence of sulfuric acid is a hydration reaction that converts the alkene to an alcohol, cycloheptanol. Sulfuric acid acts as a catalyst to facilitate the protonation of the alkene and the nucleophilic attack of water on the resulting carbocation.
Step-by-step explanation:
The reaction of cycloheptene with water and sulfuric acid is a hydration reaction. In the first step, the alkene is protonated by sulfuric acid, creating a more stable carbocation intermediate. In the second step, water, acting as a nucleophile, attacks the carbocation, forming an oxonium ion. Subsequently, another water molecule removes the acidic proton to yield the final product, which is an alcohol. Sulfuric acid acts as a catalyst; it is not consumed in the reaction. Its role is to facilitate the formation of the carbocation intermediate and to provide protons to create a good leaving group for the nucleophilic attack by water. Here, water being in higher concentration, and despite being a poor nucleophile, favors the hydration over other possible solutions.
In the context of this reaction, sulfuric acid (H₂SO4) helps in the protonation and ultimately, in the conversion of cycloheptene to cycloheptanol, an alcohol derived from the addition of a water molecule across the C=C bond of cycloheptene.