Types of Catalysts Speed Up Reactions

5/29/2016
Types of catalysts | Arrhenius equation and reaction mechanisms | Kinetics | Chemistry | Khan Academy
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Types of catalysts
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Key points
A catalyst is a substance that can be added to a reaction to increase
the reaction rate without getting consumed in the process.
Catalysts typically speed up a reaction by reducing the activation
energy or changing the reaction mechanism.
Enzymes are proteins that act as catalysts in biochemical reactions.
Common types of catalysts include enzymes, acid-base catalysts, and
heterogeneous (or surface) catalysts.
Introduction: A kinetics thought experiment

Your brain is powered by the oxidation of glucose. The oxidation of glucose
can be represented as the following balanced chemical reaction:
C6 H12 O6 (s) + 6O2 (g) 6CO2 (g) + 6H2 O(l) + heat

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/chemistry/chem-kinetics/arrhenius-equation/a/types-of-catalysts
G at
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Without this reaction, learning chemistry would be much harder. Luckily,

the oxidation reaction is thermodynamically favored at 25 C since
G < 0.
Why don't we give it a try? Find some
food that is nice and sugary, such as
a raisin. Add some oxygen gas (i.e.
hold it out in the air). What happens?
Do you notice a release of heat
energy? The formation of water and a
nice explosive poof of carbon dioxide
gas?
Chances are, the raisin doesn't do
much besides maybe dry out a little
bit more. Even though the oxidation
Did you know that glucose was rst isolated

from raisins? Image from Wikimedia Commons,
public domain
of glucose is a thermodynamically
favorable reaction, it turns out that the reaction rate is really really really
slow.
The rate of a reaction depends on factors such as:
Activation energy
Temperature: if you heat up the raisin to a high enough temperature, it
will probably catch on re and oxidize
These two factors are closely related: increasing the reaction temperature
of the reaction increases the kinetic energy of the reactant molecules. This
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increases the likelihood that they will have enough energy to get over the
activation barrier.
How does your body solve this problem for the oxidation of glucose? After
all, your body temperature isn't much higher than 25 C, so how is this
reaction happening continuously in your body?
Biological systems use catalysts to increase the rate of the oxidation
reaction so that it can occur at a faster rate at lower temperatures. in this
article, we will talk more about what a catalyst is, and the dierent types of
catalysts.
What is a catalyst?
Catalysts are substances that can be added to a reaction to increase the
reaction rate without getting consumed in the process. They usually work
by
1. Lowering the energy of the transition state, thus lowering the
activation energy, and/or
2. Changing the mechanism of the reaction. This also changes the nature
(and energy) of the transition state.
Catalysts are everywhere! Many biochemical processes, such as the
oxidation of glucose, are heavily dependent on enzymes, proteins that
behave as catalysts.
Other common kinds of catalysts include acid-base catalysts and
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Example: Carbonic anhydrase

The enzyme carbonic anhydrase
catalyzes the reversible reaction of
carbon dioxide (CO2 ) and water
(H2 O) to form carbonic acid. When

the concentration of CO2 in the
body is too high, carbonic anhydrase
catalyzes the following reaction:
CO2 + H2 O H2 CO3
By regulating the concentration of
carbonic acid in the blood and
tissues, the enzyme is able to keep
the pH balanced in the body.
A ribbon diagram of human carbonic anhydrase

II. Isn't chemistry beautiful? The grey sphere in
the center of the protein is a zinc ion. Image
from Wikimedia Commons, public domain
Carbonic anhydrase is one of the fastest known enzymes, with reaction

rates between 104 and 106 reactions per second. This is even more
amazing compared to the uncatalyzed reaction, which has a rate of ~0.2
reactions per second. That is a ~105
107 increase in rate!!
The following diagram shows an energy diagram for the reaction between
carbon dioxide and water to form carbonic acid. The reaction with catalyst
is indicated with a blue line, and the uncatalyzed reaction is indicated with
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a red line.
without enzyme
Energy
with enzyme
a cti vation
e ne rgy w ith
e nzym e
reactants
a cti vation
e ne rgy w ithout
e nzym e
ove ra ll e ne rgy
re le a se d du ring
re acti on
e.g. CO 2 + H 2O
products
H 2CO 3
Reaction coordinate
Diagram of energy for reaction between carbon dioxide and water to

form carbonic acid. The addition of catalyst (blue line) lowers the energy
of the transition state, but does not change Hrxn compared to the
uncatalyzed reaction (red line). Image from Wikimedia Commons, CC BYSA 3.0
The catalyst lowers the energy of the transition state for the reaction. Since
the activation energy is the dierence between the transition state energy
and the reactant energy, lowering the transition state energy also lowers
the activation energy. [How is the reaction rate related to the activation energy?]
Notice that the energies of the reactants and products are the same for the
catalyzed and uncatalyzed reaction. Therefore, the overall energy released
during the reaction, Hrxn , does not change when you add the enzyme.
This emphasizes a very important point: the kinetics of a reaction, i.e.
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reaction rate, is not directly related to the thermodynamics of the reaction.
Acid-base catalysis
In acid catalysis, the catalyst is usually a H+ ion. In base catalysis, the
catalyst is usually an OH ion.
An example of a reaction that can be catalyzed by acid is the hydrolysis of
sucrose, also known as table sugar. Sucrose is a combination of two
simpler sugars (or monosaccharides), glucose and fructose. With the
addition of acid or an enzyme such as sucrase, sucrose can be broken
down into glucose and fructose as shown by the following series of
reactions:
The acid-catalyzed reaction to form glucose and fructose from sucrose,

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which is also known as table sugar
In the rst step, sucrose reversibly reacts with H+ (in red), to form
protonated sucrose. The protonated sucrose reversibly reacts with water
(in blue) to give H+ , one molecule of glucose, and one molecule of
fructose. The overall reaction can be written as:
acid catalyst
Sucrose + H2 O Glucose + Fructose
Since the H+ appears as both a reactant and a product in equal amounts,

it is not consumed during the course of the reaction. Therefore, the catalyst
does not appear on the reactant or product side of the overall reaction.
Heterogeneous and surface catalysis

Heterogeneous catalysts are catalysts that are in a dierent phase than the
reactants. For example, the catalyst might be in the solid phase while the
reactants are in a liquid or gas phase.
[What do you call a catalyst in the same phase as the reactants?]
One example of a heterogeneous

catalyst is the catalytic converter in
gasoline or diesel-fueled cars.
Catalytic converters contain
transition metal catalysts embedded
on a solid phase support. The solidphase catalyst comes into contact
with gases from the car's exhaust
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The solid phase catalyst inside a catalytic

converter reduces emissions of toxic gases,
unburned fuel, and particulate matter. The solid
support is designed to have a high surface area
to increase the surface area of catalyst available
to react with the exhaust stream. Image from
Oak Ridge National Laboratory on ickr, CC BYNC-ND 2.0
stream, increasing the rate of

reactions to form less toxic products
from pollutants in the exhaust stream
such as carbon monoxide and
unburnt fuel.
The catalytic converter is also an
example of surface catalysis, where the reactant molecules are adsorbed

onto a solid surface before they react with the catalyst to form the product.
The rate of a surface-catalyzed reaction increases with the surface area of
catalyst in contact with the reactants. Therefore, the solid support inside of
a catalytic converter is designed to have a very high surface area, hence
the porous, honeycomb-like appearance.
Another example of heterogeneous
and surface catalysis is the process
used to make common plastics (or
polymers) such as polyethylene.
These catalysts are called ZieglerNatta catalysts, and they are used to
make everything from plastic wrap to
yogurt cups. Transition metal
catalysts are embedded on a solid
support before reacting them with the
starting materials (also called
monomers) in the gas or solution
phase.
Polyethylene is also used for articial joints! The

metal ball-joint in this articial hip ts into a
polyethylene socket, which appears clear in the
X-ray. Image from Wikimedia Commons, public
domain
Even though the reactants are in the gas phase, the product polymer is
usually a solid. I imagine this reaction being analogous to making popcorn:
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the unpopped corn kernel is the catalyst on the solid support. The gaseous
monomers react to form layers of solid product polymer that build up on
the surface of the catalyst, which eventually becomes a polymer "popcorn"
bead. Chemistryit's like magic!
Summary
A catalyst is a substance that can be added to a reaction to increase
the reaction rate without getting consumed in the process.
Catalysts typically speed up a reaction by reducing the activation
energy or changing the reaction mechanism.
Enzymes are proteins that act as catalysts in biochemical reactions.
Common types of catalysts include enzymes, acid-base catalysts, and
[Attributions and references]
Arrhenius equation and reaction mechanisms
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Types of Catalysts Speed Up Reactions

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5/29/2016

| AR R HENIUS EQUATION AND R EACTION MECHANISMS

Introduction: A kinetics thought experiment

C6 H12 O6 (s) + 6O2 (g) 6CO2 (g) + 6H2 O(l) + heat

Without this reaction, learning chemistry would be much harder. Luckily,

Did you know that glucose was rst isolated

heterogeneous (or surface) catalysts.

Example: Carbonic anhydrase

(H2 O) to form carbonic acid. When

A ribbon diagram of human carbonic anhydrase

Carbonic anhydrase is one of the fastest known enzymes, with reaction

107 increase in rate!!

Diagram of energy for reaction between carbon dioxide and water to

reaction rate, is not directly related to the thermodynamics of the reaction.

The acid-catalyzed reaction to form glucose and fructose from sucrose,

which is also known as table sugar

Sucrose + H2 O Glucose + Fructose

Since the H+ appears as both a reactant and a product in equal amounts,

Heterogeneous and surface catalysis

One example of a heterogeneous

The solid phase catalyst inside a catalytic

stream, increasing the rate of

example of surface catalysis, where the reactant molecules are adsorbed

Polyethylene is also used for articial joints! The

Arrhenius equation and reaction mechanisms

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