Reactions of Carbonyl Compounds in Basic Solutions. Part 35 1 : The Alkaline Hydrolysis and Reactivity – Structure – Spectra Correlations of (Z)-4-(Substituted Benzylidene)-2-Phenyl-4H-Oxazol-5-Ones

The kinetics of the alkaline hydrolysis and the configuration, conformation and electronic structure were studied using IR, NMR spectroscopy, X-ray analysis and AM1 theoretical calculations for a series of (Z)-4-(substituted benzylidene)-2-phenyl-4H-oxazol-5-ones (1) and compared with analogous results reported for (E)-4-benzylidene-2-phenyl-4H-furan-5-ones (5) and related compounds.