On the nature of the tetrahedral species in the gas phase hydrolysis of esters

Abstract

Ion cyclotron resonance techniques show that in the gas phase the oxygen exchange reaction in the system OH^–+ HC(¹⁸O)(OMe) is at least 10^–2 times slower than the hydrolysis reaction; this result, plus thermochemical estimates, suggest that the tetrahedral adduct HC(OMe)(OH)O^– is more likely a local transition state rather than a stable intermediate.