The kinetics of methanolysis of the title compound (3) were studied in the presence of Cu²⁺, introduced as Cu(OTf)₂, in the presence of 0.5–1.0 eq. of methoxide and in the presence of 1.0 eq. of a ligand such as bipyridyl (5), phenanthroline (6) or 1,5,9-triazacyclododecane (4). In all cases the active species involve Cu²⁺(⁻OCH₃). In the case of added strong-binding ligands 5 or 6, a plot of the observed rate constant for methanolysis of 3vs. [Cu²⁺]_total gives a curved line modelled by a process having a [Cu²⁺]^1/2 dependence consistent with an active monomeric species in equilibrium with an inactive dimer i.e. {LCu²⁺(⁻OCH₃)}₂ ⇆ 2LCu²⁺(⁻OCH₃). In the case of the added strong binding ligand 4, the plot of the observed rate constant for methanolysis of 3vs. [Cu²⁺]_total gives a straight line consistent with the catalytically active species being 4Cu²⁺(OCH₃) which shows no propensity to form inactive dimers. Turnover experiments where the [3] > [Cu²⁺]_total indicate that the systems are truly catalytic. In the optimum case a catalytic system comprising 1 mM of the complex 4Cu²⁺(⁻OCH₃) catalyzes the methanolysis of 3 with a t_1/2 of ∼58 s accounting for a 1.7 × 10⁹-fold acceleration relative to the background reaction at near neutral ^s_spH (8.75).