Hydrolysis of 4-nitrophenyl phosphate (NPP) and bis-4-nitrophenyl phosphate (BNPP), two commonly used DNA model substrates, was examined in vanadate solutions by means of (1)H, (31)P and (51)V NMR spectroscopy. The hydrolysis of the phosphoester bond in NPP at 50 degrees C and pH 5.0 proceeds with a rate constant of 1.74 x 10(-5) s(-1). The cleavage of the phosphoester bond in BNPP at 70 degrees C and pH 5.0 proceeds with a rate constant of 3.32 x 10(-6) s(-1), representing an acceleration of four orders of magnitude compared to the uncatalyzed cleavage. Inorganic phosphate and nitrophenol (NP) were the only products of hydrolysis. The NMR spectra did not show evidence of any paramagnetic species, excluding the possibility of V(V) reduction to V(IV), indicating that the cleavage of the phosphoester bond is purely hydrolytic. The pH dependence of k(obs) revealed that the hydrolysis proceeds fastest in solutions of pH 5.5. Comparison of the rate profile with the concentration profile of polyoxovanadates shows a striking overlap of the k(obs) profile with the concentration of decavanadate (V(10)). Kinetic experiments at 37 degrees C using a fixed amount of NPP and increasing amounts of V(10) permitted the calculation of catalytic (k(c) = 5.67 x 10(-6) s(-1)) and formation constants for the NPP-V(10) complex (K(f) = 71.53 M(-1)). Variable temperature (31)P NMR spectra of a reaction mixture revealed broadening and shifting of the (31)P resonance upon addition of increasing amounts of decavanadate and upon increasing temperature, implying the dynamic exchange process between free and bound NPP at higher temperatures. The origin of the hydrolytic activity of V(10) is most likely due its high lability and its dissociation into smaller fragments which may allow the attachment of NPP and BNPP into the polyoxovanadate framework.