Industrial chemistry, reaction-path synthesis

Key words in the definition are italicized. A catalyst is itself a chemical substance and as such becomes involved in the reaction, although not permanently. The chemical state of the catalyst is subject to all the rules of chemistry in its interaction with reactants but remains unchanged at the end of the reaction. Primarily, the catalyst accelerates the kinetics of the reaction toward thermodynamic completion by introducing a less difficult path for molecules to follow. Figure 1.1 illustrates this feature with an industrially important reaction, the synthesis of ammonia ... 

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