Summarizes the relationship between dehydration reactions and hydrolysis

Dehydration reaction is removal of water from a specie to give 2 distinct molecules. Dehydration reactions are common processes, the reverse of a hydration reaction. Examples of dehydrating agents are: sulfuric acid, alumina etc.

Hydrolysis reaction is the reaction of water molecules with a large molecule. Sometimes, this addition causes both substance and water molecule to split into two products, reactions like this, one fragment of the parent molecule gains a hydrogen ion.

The difference between dehydration synthesis and hydrolysis is that in one, bonds are being formed, while in the other bonds are being destroyed. In dehydration reaction, molecules are bonded together by removing water while in hydrolysis, water is added to the molecules in order to dissolve complex bonds.