CHM 1311 Chapter Notes - Chapter 13: Reaction Rate, Reaction Mechanism, Molecularity
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Chm1311 d professor wendy pell: kinetics: mechanisms and rates of reaction (ch 13) Reaction mechanism: sequence of chemical events; atoms, ions, and molecules rearrange and recombine during chemical reactions; processes do not occur all at once i. e in 2no2 -> n2o4. Collision btwn 2 n atoms from both no2 forms a collision complex creates n2o4. A collision where the n of a no2 molecule strikes an o of another no2 molecule will not lead to. Elementary reactions can be unimolecular, bimolecular, or termolecular (involve 1, 2, or 3 reactants) I. e 2no2 -> n2o4 and oh- + h3o+ -> 2h2o: unimolecular reaction single molecule fragments into two pieces or rearranges to a new isomer. Intermediates: chemical species produced in an early step of a mechanism and consumed in a later step of a reaction; they never appear in the overall reaction. Consumed rapidly in bimolecular reaction or by decomposition in unimolecular reactions.