Chapter 13, Problem 13.74QP

Methyl acetate, CH₃COOCH₃, reacts in basic solution to give acetate ion, CH₃COO⁻, and methanol, CH₃OH.

$\begin{array}{l}{\text{CH}}_3{\text{COOCH}}_3(aq)+{\text{OH}}^{-}(aq)\stackrel{}{\to }\hfill \\ {\text{CH}}_3{\text{COO}}^{-}(aq)+{\text{CH}}_3\text{OH}(aq)\hfill \end{array}$

The overall order of the reaction was determined by starting with methyl acetate and hydroxide ion at the same concentrations, so [CH₃COOCH₃] = [OH⁻] = x. Then

$\text{Rate}=k{[{\text{CH}}_3{\text{COOCH}}_3]}^m{[{\text{OH}}^{-}]}^n=k{x}^{m+n}$

Determine the overall order and the value of the rate constant by plotting the following data assuming first- and then second-order kinetics.

Time (min)	[CH3COOCH3] (mol/L)
0.00	0.01000
3.00	0.00740
4.00	0.00683
5.00	0.00634
10.00	0.00463
20.00	0.00304
30.00	0.00224