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Specialty Chemistry Forums => Biochemistry and Chemical Biology Forum => Topic started by: briteyellowness on August 18, 2005, 01:43:19 PM

Title: how does a catalyst work
Post by: briteyellowness on August 18, 2005, 01:43:19 PM

mkay so a catalyst increases the rate of reaction by lowering the activation energy.
can i think in a way that "lowering activation energy" is a big group and there are many subgroups to it.
like one way to lower it would be to form a stable intermediate.
another way to lower it is to stabilize the transition state.
and whatnot?

Title: Re:how does a catalyst work
Post by: sdekivit on August 18, 2005, 02:23:04 PM

there are 3 principles for the way of katalysis of enzymes:

1: the enzymes binds its substrate in the right orientation to encourage a reaction.

2 the binding of the substrate rearrenges the electronpossesion of the substrate, creating partial negative an positive charges that favor reactions

3: it strains the molecule forcing it to a transition state to favour a reaction.

Title: Re:how does a catalyst work
Post by: briteyellowness on August 19, 2005, 09:29:32 AM

so a catalyst can't work by forming an intermediate?

Title: Re:how does a catalyst work
Post by: sdekivit on August 19, 2005, 11:31:23 AM

Quote from: briteyellowness on August 19, 2005, 09:29:32 AM

so a catalyst can't work by forming an intermediate?

depends on what you mean with an intermediate.

Title: Re:how does a catalyst work
Post by: jdurg on August 23, 2005, 11:23:31 AM

A catalyst can form as many intermediates it wants, as long as at the end of the reaction the catalyst reforms itself again.