Catalysis

Catalysis is the acceleration of a chemical reaction by a substance that participates in the reaction but is regenerated overall. Catalysts change reaction pathways without changing the reaction’s equilibrium position.

Activation energy: The minimum energy barrier reactants must overcome to reach a reaction’s transition state. Catalysts accelerate reactions by providing pathways with lower activation barriers.
Chemical kinetics: The study of reaction rates and how they depend on conditions and mechanisms. Catalysis is commonly identified by its effect on reaction rate.
Haber–Bosch process: An industrial process that synthesizes ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen using an iron-based catalyst. It demonstrates how catalysis enables large-scale synthesis of a difficult product.
Stoichiometric reagent: A reactant used in a chemical transformation in an amount related to the quantity of product formed. Unlike a catalyst, it is consumed rather than regenerated overall.
Transition state: A high-energy arrangement of atoms at the top of a reaction pathway’s energy barrier. Catalysts stabilize transition states or alter their formation along an alternative pathway.
Chemical equilibrium: A dynamic condition in which forward and reverse reaction rates are equal. A catalyst speeds both directions and does not shift the equilibrium position.
Contact process: An industrial method for manufacturing sulfuric acid that oxidizes sulfur dioxide using a vanadium oxide catalyst. Its catalytic oxidation step makes efficient sulfuric acid production possible.
Inhibitor: A substance that reduces the rate or extent of a chemical or biological process. It opposes catalytic activity by slowing reactions or blocking catalyst function.
Catalytic cycle: A sequence of steps in which a catalyst binds reactants, facilitates transformation, and is regenerated. It tracks how catalyst participation and regeneration occur across individual reaction steps.
Reaction mechanism: A stepwise account of the elementary reactions by which reactants become products. Catalytic acceleration follows from changing the sequence or energetics of reaction steps.

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