The alkaline hydrolysis of ethyl acetate in water containing small additions of acetone have shown that the earlier expectations of abnormal trend in the rate of reaction were correct. The absence of mechanistic change is indicated by the continuity in the curve for correlation of the two Arrhenius parameters. Any explanation has to be in relation to the structure of the environment of the reacting species and the requirement of the properly hydrated reacting ion.

The kinetics of the hydrolysis of ethyl acetate by hydroxyl ions in dioxan-water systems also shows the same anticipated deviations from the Kirkwood picture of ion-dipole reactions. For small additions of organic solvents, more than the dielectric constant, the mole fraction of water and the changes in the environment of the transition state appear to be more significant. This is indicated by the reaction in the presence of acetate ions. The results are compared with those in acetone-water systems.