The Burgess reagent or methyl N-(triethylammoniumsulfonyl)carbamate was developed in the laboratory of Edward M. Burgess at Georgia Tech

Georgia Institute of Technology

The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...

. It is a mild and selective dehydrating reagent often used in organic chemistry

Organic chemistry

Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives...

. It is used to convert secondary and tertiary alcohol

Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

 with an adjacent proton into alkene

Alkene

In organic chemistry, an alkene, olefin, or olefine is an unsaturated chemical compound containing at least one carbon-to-carbon double bond...

s. Primary alcohols do not work well. The reagent is soluble in common organic solvents and alcohol dehydration takes place with syn elimination.