THE KINETICS OF SAPONIFICATION OF IODOACETIC ACID BY SODIUM HYDROXIDE AND BY CERTAIN ALKALINE BUFFER SOLUTIONS

1. The rate of the saponification of iodoacetic acid in sodium hydroxide and alkaline buffer solutions yielding glycollic acid was measured by means of Heyrovský's polarographic method. 2. From the bimolecular velocity constants, increasing with the ionic strength of the solution, the Brönsted factor, F, which characterizes the primary salt effect, was calculated. 3. In the borate buffer solutions the monomolecular constants of the saponification were determined which, at values above the pH of neutralization of boric acid, show a proportionality to the concentration of hydroxyl anions. Below the pH of neutralization of boric acid, they are proportional to the concentration of borate anions.