Evaluation of Chemical Kinetic Methods

The second factor influencing detection limits is the instrumental method used to monitor the reaction s progress. Most reactions are monitored spectrophotometrically or electro-chemically. The scale of operation for these methods was discussed in Chapters 10 and 11 and, therefore, is not discussed here. 

Effect of the concentration of inhibitor on the Lineweaver-Burk plots for (a) competitive inhibition, (b) noncompetitive inhibition, and (c) uncompetitive inhibition. The inhibitor s concentration increases in the direction shown by the arrows. 

Sensitivity The sensitivity for a one-point fixed-time integral method of analysis is improved by making measurements under conditions in which the concentration of the monitored species is larger rather than smaller. When the analyte s concentration, or the concentration of any other reactant, is monitored, measurements are best made early in the reaction before its concentration has substantially decreased. On the other hand, when a product is used to monitor the reaction, measurements are more appropriately made at longer times. For a two-point fixed-time integral method, sensitivity is improved by increasing the difference between times t and f2. As discussed earlier, the sensitivity of a rate method improves when using the initial rate. 

Selectivity The analysis of closely related compounds, as we have seen in earlier chapters, is often complicated by their tendency to interfere with one another. To overcome this problem, the analyte and interferent must first be separated. An advantage of chemical kinetic methods is that conditions can often be adjusted so that the analyte and interferent have different reaction rates. If the difference in rates is large enough, one species may react completely before the other species has a chance to react. For example, many enzymes selectively cat- 

For a first-order reaction we can write, from equations 13.2, 13.21, and 13.22 

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