Why sodium hydroxide instead of hydrochloric acid is used to hydrolyze aspirin?
It’s a ready source of OH- ions which cause hydrolysis of the molecule. Hydrolysis effectively means the molecule is split into two parts – and if I remember correctly, aspirin is basically an ester (?), creating a hydroxyl group and a carboxylic acid (salycylic acid). Acids, being a source of H+ ions (and depending on whether weak or strong, organic or mineral) can have a hydrogenating effect, cause an elimination reaction, or a ‘dehydrating’ effect by strongly removing OH- ions from the molecule.
