Alkaline hydrolyses of anionic phenyl esters such as 4-acetoxy-3-nitrobenzoic acid and 4-butyryloxy-3-nitrobenzoic acid were examined in the presence of cationic and polymeric liposomes, liposomes of low molecular weight compounds, and micelles. All the additives accelerate the reaction due to the hydrophobic interaction between substrates and additives and the electrostatic interaction both between substrates and additives and between OH− and additives. In the Arrhenius plots of the reactions catalyzed by the liposomes, discontinuous regions were observed due to the phase transition of liposomes from the gel state to the liquid crystal state. Activation parameters ΔH≠, ΔS≠ and ΔV≠ for thes…