The alkaline hydrolysis of some benzoic esters in dioxan-water mixtures as well as that of benzyl benzoate in acetone-water has been studied. The observations indicate a group influence consistent with the ease of formation of the transition state by interaction between the hydroxyl ion and the carbonyl group of the ester in the rate determining step. The influence of dielectric constant is what might be expected for an ion-dipole reaction but specific solvent influences cannot be excluded.