What are the products of the hydrolysis of phenacetin by a base? Phenacetin was once used in analgesic tablets, but it is no longer used because it has severe side effects.

The functional group on the right side of the benzene ring is an ether, which does not react with base. The functional group on the left is an amide. Hydrolysis of an amide breaks the bond between the nitrogenatom and the carbonyl group. The acid fragment is acetic acid. The amine fragment is a substituted aniline containing an ether substituent.Because a base is used in the hydrolysis, the acid product is present in the reaction mixture as the acetate ion. The amine is p-ethoxyaniline.