water (H 2 O or HOH) and another reactant exchange functional groups to form two products, one containing the H and the other the OH. In most hydrolyses involving organic compounds, the other reactants and products are neutral; for example, an ester can be hydrolyzed to form a carboxylic acid and an alcohol .
Such reactions are often accelerated by enzymes (as in much of digestion and metabolism in general) or other catalysts . In hydrolyses of compounds with ionic bonds , the nonwater reactants are salts , acids , or bases , participating in {{link=dissociation">dissociation reactions.