Transition State Theory - Theory

Theory

The basic ideas behind transition state theory are as follows:

  1. Rates of reaction can be studied by examining activated complexes which lie near the saddle point of a potential energy surface. The details of how these complexes are formed are not important. The saddle point itself is called the transition state.
  2. The activated complexes are in a special equilibrium (quasi-equilibrium) with the reactant molecules.
  3. The activated complexes can convert into products, and kinetic theory can be used to calculate the rate of this conversion.

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