Esters can be hydrolyzed when heated with water and strong acids or bases- the reverse of Fischer esterification. However, whereas Fischer esterification is reversible, ester hydrolysis when carried out in aqueous base is not. This is because
a. base converts the resulting alcohol into an oxide ion
b. in base the resulting acid is converted to its carboxylate anion
c. base reacts with the resulting alcohol to form a participate
d. base reduces the resulting acid to an aldehyde
e. base oxidizes the resulting alcohol to an aldehyde