Abstracto
- The average value of the enthalpies of activation for the acid-catalyzed hydrolyses of ethyl 2-hydroxypropanoate and five acetate esters with hydrogen bonding capability is 57 ± 7 kJ mol-1 (p = 0.05). This value is 11 kJ mol-1 lower than the mean observed for primary and secondary alkyl acetates and ethyl alkanoates, measured in water and in mixtures of water with organic solvent with high water content. The difference is attributed to tighter transition-state complex hydration via hydrogen bonding, relative to reactant ester species. Enthalpy-entropy compensation with an isokinetic temperature of 346 K was found to be valid at p < 0.05, a value typical for solvent-mediated kinetic effects.