Effect of ultrasound on the base-catalyzed hydrolysis of 4-nitrophenyl acetate in aqueous ethanol

The kinetics of base-catalyzed hydrolyzed of 4-nitrophenyl acetate is analyzed in water and water-ethanol mixtures under ultrasound using a probe equipped with a quartz horn and, by comparison, without sonication. The results have shown that the effect of ultrasound might be related to the perturbation of solute-solvent interactions, which can be applied to both acid-catalyzed and base-catalyzed hydrolysis reactions.