Catalysis

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A modification and especially increase in the rate of a chemical reaction induced by material unchanged chemically at the end of the reaction.It is the increase in the rate of a chemical reaction due to the participation of an additional substance called a catalyst. With a catalyst, reactions occur faster and require less activation energy.

Catalytic activity is usually denoted by the symbol z and measured in mol/s, a unit which was called katal and defined the SI unit for catalytic activity since 1999. Catalytic activity is not a kind of reaction rate, but a property of the catalyst under certain conditions, in relation to a specific chemical reaction.

Catalysts generally react with one or more reactants to form intermediates that subsequently give the final reaction product, in the process regenerating the catalyst. The following is a typical reaction scheme, where C represents the catalyst, X and Y are reactants, and Z is the product of the reaction of X and Y:

X + C → XC

Y + XC → XYC

XYC → CZ

CZ → C + Z

Although the catalyst is consumed by reaction 1, it is subsequently produced by reaction 4, so it does not occur in the overall reaction equation

X + Y → Z

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