Some Fundamental Concepts

Some of the concepts that chemists have introduced for the discussion of chemical reactivity are summarized below. Much of this will be common knowledge to readers that have studied chemistry they can easily skip this section. However, for readers from other scientific disciplines or whose chemical knowledge has become rusty, some fundamental concepts are presented here. 

Electron paramagnetic resonance (epr) spectroscopic methods are used for the detection and identification of species that have a nett electronic spin radicals, radical ions, etc. It is extremely sensitive, capable of detecting species down to concentration levels of 1 x 10 12 moles dm "3, and produces spectra that are distinctive and generally easily interpreted. Consequently, the technique has found extensive application in electrochemistry since the late 1950s. In order to understand epr, it may be helpful to review some fundamental concepts. 

In order to better understand the NMR techniques described in this paper, let us first briefly review some fundamental concepts in NMR. (For more details, see Reference 8.) Throughout the discussion, we will use a classical treatment. 

These and other experiments led Langmuir to develop some fundamental concepts on adsorption. One of these is that the forces involved in adsorption are just as large as those in chemical compounds. These forces are usually short-range forces. If the adatom is removed from the surface... 

In this chapter, we discuss the fundamental principles of chemical reactivity and catalysis to understand the organic chemistry of catalysis and how to analyze it. We begin with transition state theory because it provides a simple framework for understanding much about reactivity and kinetics. We progress to structure-activity relationships and also discuss some fundamental concepts in analyzing mechanisms. 

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