Significant and differential acceleration of dephosphorylation of the insecticides, paraoxon and parathion, caused by alkali metal ethoxides

In the reaction of paraoxon with alkali metal ethoxides, ion-paired EtO–M+ species are more reactive than the dissociated EtO– with the reactivity order EtO–Li+ > EtO–Na+ > EtO–K+ > EtO–, while in the reaction of parathion, the reactivity follows the order EtO–K+ > EtO– > EtO–Na+ > EtO–Li+.