Kinetics and mechanism of the hydrolysis of esters of hydroxymethylphosphonic and hydroxymethylethylphosphinic acids

Conclusions The reactivity of ethyl esters of phosphonic and phosphinic acids containing a hydroxymethyl group at the phosphorus atom in their reaction with hydroxide anion is usually high as a consequence of intramolecular catalysis of the cleavage of the ester bond involving the ionized OH group. The spontaneous hydrolysis of these esters proceeds according to a mechanism analogous to that for other alkyl esters of tetracoordinated phosphorus acids.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 9, pp. 2139–2140, September, 1985.