A reactive center, also called a propagating center, in chemistry is a particular location, usually an atom, within a chemical compound that is the likely center of a reaction in which the chemical is involved. In chain-growth polymer chemistry this is also the point of propagation for a growing chain. The reactive center is commonly radical, anionic, or cationic in nature, but can also take other forms.
Famous quotes containing the word center:
“Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be
To warm the world, that’s done in warming us.
Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;
This bed thy center is, these walls, thy sphere.”
—John Donne (1572–1631)