“…5,6 The use of 17 O NMR spectroscopy to monitor reaction kinetics and mechanisms in biochemical phosphates and bioorganic systems has been extensively demonstrated. 9,10 The work presented here uses 17 O NMR to verify the phosphite hydrolysis mechanism proposed by Aksnes, 5 specifically for the reaction of trimethyl phosphite (TMP) with 17 O-labeled water. By monitoring the appearance of the 17 Olabeled reaction products, the mechanism is easily verified, and the kinetics directly measured and discussed.…”