Acids which have more than four substituents in the a or ß positions should be practically unesterifiable under ordinary conditions.12 Finally, if considerable substitution in the a or ß positions has already been made, substitution in the 7 position may have some effect on esterification rate.It has been demonstrated already that the effect of lengthening the alkyl chain of the acid portion of ethyl esters on the rate of saponification of these esters is the same as that observed in esterification.8 In a subsequent paper it will be shown that the general effect of a and ß substitution is the same for these two processes.(12) Cf. Braun and Fischer, Ber., 66B, 101 (1933).

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