Kinetics of the transesterification of para-nitrophenyl esters of phosphorus acids in water and aqueous hexamethylphosphorotriamide

The rate constants for the substitution of the para-nitrophenoxide ion by the phenoxide and hydroxide ions in phosphates and phosphonates are enhanced upon the addition of hexamethylphosphorotriamide (HMPTA) to water. The lack of alkaline hydrolysis of the esters in 90% aqueous HMPTA containing PhONa is a consequence of the formation of the PhOH... OH complex, which is nonreactive.A. E. Arbuzov Institute of Organic and Physical Chemistry, Kazan Science Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, 420083 Kazan. Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 2, pp. 456–459, February, 1992.