Ethyl and methyl ethylene phosphates 1 are shown to hydrolyze with complete endocyclic cleavage between pH 8 and 15 to yield ethyl and methyl 2-hydroxyethyl phosphates 3, respectively. A much slower reaction involving recyclization of the methyl hydroxyethyl phosphate 3 to form ethylene phosphate 4, which undergoes rapid further hydrolysis to 2- hydroxyethyl phosphate 5, is conveniently monitored by 31P NMR. The strained cyclic ...