Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Definition
The transition state is a high-energy, unstable state during a chemical reaction where reactants are transformed into products. It represents the point at which the original bonds are breaking and new bonds are forming.
5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test
The transition state has higher energy than both the reactants and products.
It is often represented by the highest peak in an energy diagram of a reaction.
Enzymes stabilize the transition state to lower the activation energy needed for a reaction.
The lifetime of a transition state is extremely short, on the order of femtoseconds.
Understanding the transition state is crucial for designing inhibitors in drug development.
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Related terms
Activation Energy: The minimum amount of energy required to initiate a chemical reaction.
Catalyst: A substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed.
Free Energy (Gibbs Free Energy): A thermodynamic quantity that measures the amount of work obtainable from a system at constant temperature and pressure.