Elemental reaction

In chemistry, an elementary reaction is a single, indivisible step in a reaction mechanism . This means that elementary reactions are partial reactions that follow one another in time and that together form the overall reaction. The molecularity describes the number of reacting particles and is not to be equated with the reaction order , an empirical quantity.

The elementary reactions that make up all reaction mechanisms are:

the unimolecular reaction of an educt : ${\ displaystyle {\ text {A}} \ rightarrow \ dots}$
the bimolecular reactions of A with another collision partner B, which can be identical to A: or ${\ displaystyle {\ text {A}} + {\ text {B}} \ rightarrow \ dots}$ ${\ displaystyle {\ text {A}} + {\ text {A}} \ rightarrow \ dots}$
Collisions from three partners are so extremely rare that elementary reactions with three partners do not occur.

The term “elementary reaction” should not be confused with a “reaction of chemical elements ”.

literature

EE Nikitin , L. Zülicke : Selected Topics of the Theory of Chemical Elementary Processes . Ed .: G. Berthier u. a. (= Lecture Notes in Chemistry . Volume 8 ). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York 1978, ISBN 978-3-540-08768-7 .
EE Nikitin, L. Zülicke: Theory of elementary chemical processes . Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1985, ISBN 978-3-528-06869-1 , pp. 236 .

Individual evidence

↑ Entry on elementary reaction . In: IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the “Gold Book”) . doi : 10.1351 / goldbook.E02035 Version: 2.3.
^ PW Atkins, Physical Chemistry, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-855730-2 .

[1] Entry on elementary reaction . In: IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the “Gold Book”) . doi : 10.1351 / goldbook.E02035 Version: 2.3.

[2] PW Atkins, Physical Chemistry, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-855730-2 .