A fundamental assumption about OH(super -) attack in phosphate ester hydrolysis is not fully justified

The very rapid rate of OH(super -) attack on the neutral phosphate monoester casts doubt on one of the most widely accepted basic assumptions in phosphate hydrolysis. This rate was previously underestimated since it was assumed that the rate constant of the reaction is similar to the rate constant of trimethyl phosphate hydrolysis at high pH. Such very fast rate of OH(super -) attack indicates that the hydrolysis of phosphate monoesters in aqueous solution is consistent with a mechanism involving proton transfer to the phosphate oxygen, followed by nucleophilic attack on the phosphorus.