Figure 1. Effect of water on the esterification rate of benzyl chloride. Reaction conditions: Benzyl chloride (10 mmol) in p-xylene (10 mL) was magnetically stirred with potassium formate (15 mmol) and 0.22 g (25%) TMACl/Silica D22 at 120" C. The reactions were followed by GC. When no water was added the reaction system contained approximately 2 FL of water (Karl Fisher). The initial rates were determined between 0 and 25% ...