Fast reaction

For very fast reactions, as they are accessible to investigation by pico- and femtosecond laser spectroscopy, the separation of time scales into slow motion along the reaction path and fast relaxation of other degrees of freedom in most cases is no longer possible and it is necessary to consider dynamical models, which are not the topic of this section. But often the temperature, solvent or pressure dependence of reaction rate 

For very fast reactions, the competition between geminate recombmation of a pair of initially fomied reactants and its escape from the connnon solvent cage is an important phenomenon in condensed-phase kinetics that has received considerable attention botli theoretically and experimentally. An extremely well studied example is the 

Weller A 1961 Fast reactions of excited molecules Progress in Reaction Kinetics (Oxford Pergamon) pp 187-214 

K. Kustin, ed.. Fast Reactions, Methods in En mology, Vol. 16, Academic Press, Inc., New York, 1969. Contaias enough detail to allow one to build machines and make measurements. Predates lasers, fast electronics, and computers. 

Kinetics and Mechanisms. Early researchers misunderstood the fast reaction rates and high molecular weights of emulsion polymerization (11). In 1945 the first recognized quaHtative theory of emulsion polymerization was presented (12). This mechanism for classic emulsion preparation was quantified (13) and the polymerization separated into three stages. 

M. Eigen, ia S. Claesson, ed.. Fast Reactions and Prima Processes in Chemical Kinetics, 5th ed., Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1967, pp. 333—369. 

Toluidine. Transient green, deep blue and then a deep blue precipitate. Usually a very fast reaction. 

Ultrasonic absorption is used in the investigation of fast reactions in solution. If a system is at equilibrium and the equilibrium is disturbed in a very short time (of the order of 10"seconds) then it takes a finite time for the system to recover its equilibrium condition. This is called a relaxation process. When a system in solution is caused to relax using ultrasonics, the relaxation lime of the equilibrium can be related to the attenuation of the sound wave. Relaxation times of 10" to 10 seconds have been measured using this method and the rates of formation of many mono-, di-and tripositive metal complexes with a range of anions have been determined. 

As these examples have demonstrated, in particular for fast reactions, chemical kinetics can only be appropriately described if one takes into account dynamic effects, though in practice it may prove extremely difficult to separate and identify different phenomena. It seems that more experiments under systematically controlled variation of solvent enviromnent parameters are needed, in conjunction with numerical simulations that as closely as possible mimic the experimental conditions to improve our understanding of condensed-phase reaction kmetics. The theoretical tools that are available to do so are covered in more depth in other chapters of this encyclopedia and also in comprehensive reviews [6, 118. 119], 

The high rate of mass transfer in SECM enables the study of fast reactions under steady-state conditions and allows the mechanism and physical localization of the interfacial reaction to be probed. It combines the usefid 

Deprotonation of terminal acetylenes by organolithiurn compounds in organic solvents or by alkali metal amides is an extremely fast reaction, even at very 

Fig. 3. Transferring reaction mixtures in liquid ammonia under ice. Fig. 4. Fast reactions in liquid ammonia.

The extent of the initial hydrolysis depends on temperature and how the water is added. Hydrolysis is reduced at slower addition rates and lower temperatures. The hydrolysis subsequent to the initial fast reaction is slow, presumably because part of the acid is converted to fluorosulfate ions which hydrolyze slowly even at elevated temperatures. The hydrolysis in basic solution has also been studied (17). Under controlled conditions, hydrates of HSO F containing one, two, and four molecules of water have been observed (18,19). 

Rates and selectivities of soHd catalyzed reactions can also be influenced by mass transport resistance in the external fluid phase. Most reactions are not influenced by external-phase transport, but the rates of some very fast reactions, eg, ammonia oxidation, are deterrnined solely by the resistance to this transport. As the resistance to mass transport within the catalyst pores is larger than that in the external fluid phase, the effectiveness factor of a porous catalyst is expected to be less than unity whenever the external-phase mass transport resistance is significant, A practical catalyst that is used under such circumstances is the ammonia oxidation catalyst. It is a nonporous metal and consists of layers of wire woven into a mesh. 

The second aspect, predicting reaction dynamics, including the quantum behaviour of protons, still has some way to go There are really two separate problems the simulation of a slow activated event, and the quantum-dynamical aspects of a reactive transition. Only fast reactions, occurring on the pico- to nanosecond time scale, can be probed by direct simulation an interesting example is the simulation by ab initio MD of metallocene-catalysed ethylene polymerisation by Meier et al. [93]. 

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