The increased reactivity of metal alkoxides toward hydrolysis or nucleophilic attack requires precautions and adaptations when used as precursors for sol-gel processing. The higher reactivity towards nucleophilic attack is caused by the lower electronegativity and resulting higher Lewis acidity of metals and therefore depends on the type of metal, viz. its electronegativity. Metal alkoxides are much stronger Lewis bases and the acidity of the water is strong enough to allow their rapid hydrolysis via the proton-assisted SN1 pathway, even in the absence of additional agents.