ESTER HYDROLYSIS AND FORMATION IN STRONGLY ACIDIC MEDIA

Ester hydrolysis and formation in strongly acidic media 

We do not fully understand the behaviour in strong acids even of compounds 

Although the quantitative theory of reactions in moderately concentrated solutions of strong acids is unsatisfactory, we do have a good qualitative idea of the processes involved in the acid-catalyzed hydrolysis and formation of esters. Under conditions where the degree of protonation of the substrate is small it is not possible to separate with confidence the factors which affect the solvolytic process and those which affect the preliminary protonation equilibrium. But there have been a number of recent studies of t ie behaviour of carboxylic acids and esters in very strongly acidic media, in. which they are essentially completely protonated. Under these conditions it is possible to observe the behaviour of the protonated species directly. It is appropriate to summarize the results of this research before discussing the reactions under more normal solvolytic conditions. 

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