A lanthanum macrocycle catalysed hydrolysis of a phosphate triester
Abstract
A lanthanum macrocycle is shown to be an effective catalyst for the hydrolysis of the phosphate triester 2,4-dinitrophenyl diethyl phosphate, at pH 9 the rate enhancement using 2.5 × 10–3 mol dm–3 catalyst at 25 °C being ca. 103-fold; the reaction is shown to be catalytic rather than stoicheiometric, and possible mechanisms are considered to account for the catalysis.