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In chemistry, a catalytic cycle is a multistep reaction mechanism that involves a catalyst. [1] The catalytic cycle is the main method for describing the role of catalysts in biochemistry, organometallic chemistry, bioinorganic chemistry, materials science, etc.
Often, substances are intentionally added to the reaction feed or on the catalyst to influence catalytic activity, selectivity, and/or stability. These compounds are called promoters. For example, alumina (Al 2 O 3) is added during ammonia synthesis to providing greater stability by slowing sintering processes on the Fe-catalyst. [2]
An illustrative example is the effect of catalysts to speed the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen: . 2 H 2 O 2 → 2 H 2 O + O 2. This reaction proceeds because the reaction products are more stable than the starting compound, but this decomposition is so slow that hydrogen peroxide solutions are commercially available.
Baeyer–Drewson indigo synthesis; Baeyer–Villiger oxidation, Baeyer–Villiger rearrangement [12]; Bakeland process (Bakelite) Baker–Venkataraman rearrangement, Baker–Venkataraman transformation [13] [14] [15] [16]
These catalysts initiate radical chain reactions, autoxidation that produce organic radicals that combine with oxygen to give hydroperoxide intermediates. Generally the selectivity of oxidation is determined by bond energies. For example, benzylic C-H bonds are replaced by oxygen faster than aromatic C-H bonds. [2]
When the organocatalyst is chiral an avenue is opened to asymmetric catalysis; for example, the use of proline in aldol reactions is an example of chirality and green chemistry. [10] Organic chemists David MacMillan and Benjamin List were both awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in chemistry for their work on asymmetric organocatalysis. [11]
In these reactions, the conjugate acid of the carbonyl group is a better electrophile than the neutral carbonyl group itself. Depending on the chemical species that act as the acid or base, catalytic mechanisms can be classified as either specific catalysis and general catalysis. Many enzymes operate by general catalysis.
Two common modes of Lewis acid catalysis in reactions with polar mechanisms. In reactions with polar mechanisms, Lewis acid catalysis often involves binding of the catalyst to Lewis basic heteroatoms and withdrawing electron density, which in turn facilitates heterolytic bond cleavage (in the case of Friedel-Crafts reaction) or directly activates the substrate toward nucleophilic attack (in ...