What does dehydrogenate mean?
To dehydrogenate is to strip hydrogen atoms from a molecule, a fundamental transformation in chemistry and industry. The word combines the privative prefix 'de-' with 'hydrogen', marking it as the direct opposite of hydrogenation, the process of adding hydrogen. In industrial settings, substances such as propane, butane, and ethylbenzene are catalytically dehydrogenated at high temperatures to yield more reactive alkenes used in making plastics and synthetic rubber. In biochemistry, dehydrogenation underlies cellular respiration: enzymes called dehydrogenases remove hydrogen from substrates so the body can extract energy from food. The term belongs firmly to scientific register — you will meet it in textbooks, patents, and laboratory reports rather than casual conversation — yet the underlying idea is elegantly simple: subtracting hydrogen to make a molecule do new work.
verbTo remove hydrogen from a chemical compound, typically by chemical reaction or catalytic process.
- To remove hydrogen from a compound by chemical means, especially using heat or a catalyst in industrial processes.
"In the refinery, catalysts dehydrogenate butane to produce butenes for further processing."
"The enzyme alcohol dehydrogenase helps the liver dehydrogenate ethanol into acetaldehyde."
"Industrial plants dehydrogenate ethylbenzene over iron-oxide catalysts to manufacture styrene."
Dehydrogenation is the reverse of the hydrogenation that turns oils into margarine — and your body runs it every second inside your cells.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of dehydrogenate
'Dehydrogenate' was formed in the nineteenth century within scientific English, combining the Greek-derived prefix 'de-' (indicating removal) with 'hydrogen' — itself coined from Greek roots meaning 'water-forming'. It follows the pattern of other chemical terms built on 'dehydrate' and parallels French and German coinages of the same era as physical chemistry matured. Its derivatives include 'dehydrogenation' for the process and 'dehydrogenase' for the class of enzymes that perform it biologically.
Related word forms
How dehydrogenate is actually used
A technical term used almost exclusively in chemistry, biochemistry, and chemical engineering; rare in everyday speech. Often encountered in its noun form 'dehydrogenation' or in the names of enzymes ('dehydrogenases').
Easily confused with dehydrogenate
To dehydrate is to remove water from a substance, whereas to dehydrogenate is specifically to remove hydrogen.