Intermediates are species that appear in the steps of a reaction mechanism but not in the overall balanced equation. They are formed in one elementary step and consumed in a subsequent step.
5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test
Intermediates are typically unstable and have a short lifetime.
They do not appear in the overall reaction equation because they cancel out when combining elementary steps.
The presence of intermediates can be inferred from experimental data, such as reaction rate studies.
Intermediates help explain the mechanism by which reactants are converted to products.
In energy diagrams, intermediates correspond to valleys between transition states.
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Related terms
Elementary Step: A single reaction event with its own specific rate law and molecularity within a larger mechanism.