Catalytic cycle

A sequence of steps in which a catalyst binds reactants, facilitates their transformation, and is regenerated. The catalyst can repeat the sequence without being consumed overall.

Catalyst: A substance that increases a reaction's rate without being consumed overall. The catalyst changes form at intermediate steps but is restored by the end of the cycle.
Chemical kinetics: The study of reaction rates and the factors that determine them. Rates of individual steps determine the overall speed of a catalytic cycle.
Enzyme catalysis: The acceleration of biochemical reactions by enzymes. Enzymes bind substrates, transform them, and release products through catalytic cycles.
Stoichiometric reagent: A reactant used in an amount determined by the reaction's chemical proportions and consumed during conversion. Unlike a catalyst, it is consumed rather than regenerated through repeated turnovers.
Substrate (chemistry): A molecule on which an enzyme or other catalyst acts. Substrate binding is typically the entry point into a catalytic cycle.
Activation energy: The energy barrier that reactants must overcome to undergo a chemical reaction. Catalysts accelerate cycles by providing pathways with lower energy barriers.
Michaelis–Menten kinetics: A model relating enzyme reaction rate to substrate concentration. Its rate law summarizes a simplified enzyme cycle with substrate binding and product formation.
Catalyst deactivation: The loss of catalytic activity through processes such as poisoning, fouling, or structural change. Deactivation interrupts cycles before the catalyst can continue turning over.
Catalyst–substrate complex: A temporary association between a catalyst and a molecule it acts upon. This bound state precedes the chemical transformation in many cycles.
Transition state: A high-energy arrangement of atoms at the top of a reaction's energy barrier. Catalysts often stabilize transition states along cycle steps.

Linked from 15 pages