> See also: > - [[Chemical Reaction Mechanisms]] > - [[Activation Energy and the Reaction Coordinate]] > - [[Nucleophiles and Electrophiles]] > - [[Chemical Thermodynamics]] # Chemical Reactions **Chemical reactions** are *the breaking and forming of* [[Chemical Bonds|bonds]] between [[molecules]] and/or [[Atoms and Elements]]. All chemical *bonds* between atoms *contain potential energy*, for a bond to break the molecular orbital (MO), it must first receive energy from the surroundings. > [!NOTE]- Categories of Chemical Reactions > Condensation Reactions > > [[Substitution and Elimination Reactions|Elimination Reactions]] > [[Addition Reactions]] > > Substitution Reactions > [[Resonance Structures|Rearrangement]] > > Oxidation Reactions > [[Reduction Oxidation Reactions |Reduction Reactions]] > > [[Acids and Bases]] > ## Components of Chemical Reactions It’s important to distinguish **elementary reactions** (aka simple molecular processes) from more complicated ones. Some examples The **reactant** of a reaction is the molecule that determines the identity of the product while the **reagent** is the (often smaller) molecule interacting with it. ![[Fundamental Concept of Organic Reaction Components.png|400]] The most general way of In organic chemistry, however, In organic reactions, the organic compound called the **substrate** will react with a suitable attacking species called the **reagent** to form a *product*. A **catalyst** is capable of drastically speeding up the rate of the reaction without itself being consumed by the reaction **Solvent:** The substance where a reaction is taking place. An **inert solvent** will not interact with the reaction There are several [[Chemical Reaction Mechanisms]] that describe the behavior of electrons and atoms as the changes of a chemical reaction are occuring ## Visualizing Chemical Reactions There are many ways to visualize/represent a chemical reaction and its properties Chemical reactions will most often be represented with a simple chemical equation - [[Chemical Equilibria]] - [[Chemical Reaction Mechanisms]] Chemical reactions can be visualized through [[Chemical Equations]]. ### Chemical Equations Reaction equations only represent the lowest whole number ratio needed fro the reaction to occur. Because of this we can often ignore compounds that do not change #### Balanced Chemical Equations A chemical equation is balanced if there is an equal number of atoms for each element involved in both the reactants and product of a reaction. #### Equations for Ionic Reactions - Factors like charges and subscripts are part of the identity of the compound > **Net Ionic Equations:** A more stripped down version of the ionic equation where the *spectator ions* (compounds that are on both sides) are removed and the equation is shown in its lowest whole number ratio. > > Example: > $Ag^+ + Cl^- \rightarrow AgCl (s)$