Ester hydrolysis catalyzed by alkali
Ester hydrolysis is also an important item in organic chemistry. The hydrolysis of ethyl acetate catalyzed by alkali is a common reaction.

Ethyl acetate has the general property of esters. In alkali-catalyzed hydrolysis, the hydroxide ion in the base has strong nucleophilicity and attacks the carbonyl carbon of ethyl acetate. This carbonyl carbon is partially positively charged due to its connection with oxygen and is vulnerable to attack by nucleophilic reagents. Hydroxide ions are added to carbonyl carbons to form an unstable tetrahedral intermediate.

Immediately, the rearrangement of bonds occurs in this intermediate. Alkoxy (ethoxy) leaves to form acetate ions and ethanol. The presence of bases accelerates the reaction process. First, the hydroxide ion is a strong nucleophilic reagent, which is much stronger than the nucleophilicity of water, which greatly increases the reaction rate; second, the acetic acid generated by the reaction can further react with the base to form acetate, which shifts the reaction equilibrium to the right and promotes complete hydrolysis.

This reaction is widely used in the chemical industry, pharmaceuticals and other fields. In the chemical industry, it can be used to prepare specific organic acids and alcohols; in the pharmaceutical industry, or in the intermediate steps of drug synthesis, by precisely controlling the reaction conditions, the required products can be obtained, which will help the development of the industry.