Preferred Label : mechanism;
Detailed label : mechanism of a reaction;
IUPAC definition : A detailed description of the process leading from the reactants to the products of
a reaction, including a characterization as complete as possible of the composition,
structure, energy and other properties of reaction intermediates, products and transition
states. An acceptable mechanism of a specified reaction (and there may be a number
of such alternative mechanisms not excluded by the evidence) must be consistent with
the reaction stoichiometry, the rate law and with all other available experimental
data, such as the stereochemical course of the reaction. Inferences concerning the
electronic motions which dynamically interconvert successive species along the reaction
path (as represented by curved arrows, for example) are often included in the description
of a mechanism. It should be noted that for many reactions all this information is
not available and the suggested mechanism is based on incomplete experimental data.
It is not appropriate to use the term mechanism to describe a statement of the probable
sequence in a set of stepwise reactions. That should be referred to as a reaction
sequence, and not a mechanism.;
Origin ID : M03804;
Automatic exact mappings (from CISMeF team)
- See also
A detailed description of the process leading from the reactants to the products of
a reaction, including a characterization as complete as possible of the composition,
structure, energy and other properties of reaction intermediates, products and transition
states. An acceptable mechanism of a specified reaction (and there may be a number
of such alternative mechanisms not excluded by the evidence) must be consistent with
the reaction stoichiometry, the rate law and with all other available experimental
data, such as the stereochemical course of the reaction. Inferences concerning the
electronic motions which dynamically interconvert successive species along the reaction
path (as represented by curved arrows, for example) are often included in the description
of a mechanism. It should be noted that for many reactions all this information is
not available and the suggested mechanism is based on incomplete experimental data.
It is not appropriate to use the term mechanism to describe a statement of the probable
sequence in a set of stepwise reactions. That should be referred to as a reaction
sequence, and not a mechanism.
