The transition state, or activated complex, is the fleeting molecular configuration that exists at the top of the energy barrier that the reactants must surmount to become the products. It is not strictly a component of the reaction system, and it cannot be examined directly in the way that an intermediate (however unstable) can, because it lasts no longer than the duration of a molecular collision. The transition state may have properties of its own, not reflected in those of the starting materials or of the products and of the reaction, and so it is of vital importance in determining the course of reaction. Inference concerning the nature of the transition state is the essence of mechanistic study.

The solvent

The solvent, or medium in which the reaction occurs, may perform the mechanical—but often vital—role of allowing otherwise immiscible reactants to come together rapidly. Among the important groups of solvents, each with its own special type of behaviour, are hydroxylic solvents (the molecules of which contain hydroxyl [―OH] groups, such as water and alcohols), dipolar aprotic solvents (the molecules of which show a separation of electrical charge but do not easily give up a proton, or positive hydrogen ion; e.g., acetone), and nonpolar solvents (the molecules of which do not show charge separation; e.g., hexane).

In dissolving the reactants, the solvent may interact with any or all of them, and it may be involved in the transition state for any reaction available for the system. If the solvent interacts more powerfully with the transition state than with the reactants, it facilitates the reaction. The solvent itself may of course be one of the reactants, and this circumstance introduces special problems because of the difficulty of distinguishing experimentally between its functions as a reagent and as an environment for the reaction.

Catalysts

Catalysts are substances that speed up a reaction by facilitating a particular mechanism—sometimes by influencing an existing prereaction and sometimes by making a new process energetically favourable. Their presence or absence frequently determines the course a reaction may take, simply because one of a number of competing reactions is, or is not, favoured. (Most catalysts are changed chemically while they speed up a reaction; sometimes—but not always—they are consumed, and sometimes they are reformed and so appear to be unchanged in concentration during a reaction.)

The products

All reactions are reversible in principle, and the nature of the products of the reaction can affect the reaction course in a number of ways. When the position of equilibrium is unfavourable, for example, the accumulation of products may cause a reversal of the reaction. In such circumstances, the physical removal of the products (through their volatility or insolubility, for example) facilitates the completion of the forward process. Sometimes too, one of the products acts as a catalyst or as an inhibitor, behaviour that strongly influences the course of the reaction.

The reaction conditions

The conditions under which some reaction occurs, including such variables as the temperature and concentrations of reactants, also are important in determining the course of the reaction. For reactions that have a high energy barrier between reactants and products, the rate is highly responsive to change in temperature, and such reactions become more likely at increased temperatures, so the minor products of a reaction often appear in larger proportions at higher temperatures.

Similarly, the concentration of reagents can be important to the course of a reaction, especially if two mechanisms are available that involve different numbers of molecules in the transition states. Higher concentrations of a particular reagent favour those mechanisms in which greater numbers of molecules are involved in the transition state. The pressure applied to the reacting system also may be significant, partly because it has an effect on concentration and partly because mechanisms involving closely associated transition states become more favourable at high pressures. The latter relationship comes about because associated transition states are those in which several molecules or ions are brought close together (and therefore take up less space), a situation that is encouraged by increased pressures.