What is the Difference Between Activated Complex and Transition State?
🆚 Go to Comparative Table 🆚The difference between an activated complex and a transition state lies in their descriptions of the chemical reaction pathway and the energy levels involved.
- Transition State: This represents the highest potential energy configuration of the atoms in a reaction. It is the atomic arrangement with the highest energy when reactants are going to products. The transition state is a specific, high-energy configuration that occurs during the reaction process.
- Activated Complex: This refers to a range of configurations near the transition state that the atoms pass through during the transformation from reactants to products. Activated complexes are the intermediate molecules created as a chemical reaction progresses. They can either form products or disassociate to form the original reactants. Activated complexes have higher energy levels than normal molecules but lower energy levels than the transition state.
In summary, the transition state is a specific, high-energy atomic configuration, while the activated complex is a range of configurations near the transition state that the atoms pass through during the reaction process. The transition state has the highest energy level, and there is a high possibility of a transition state complex going to the products. However, activation complexes can fall back to form reactants rather than going to the products.
Comparative Table: Activated Complex vs Transition State
The main difference between an activated complex and a transition state lies in their energy levels and the configurations they represent. Here is a comparison table highlighting their differences:
| Property | Activated Complex | Transition State |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Level | Range of higher energy states | Highest potential energy configuration |
| Configuration | Collection of intermediate molecules created as a chemical reaction unfolds | Intermediate configuration with the highest energy along the reaction coordinate |
| Formation | Formed when reactants have sufficient energy to surpass the energy barrier and start the reaction | Formed when the energy barrier is surpassed, and the reaction is about to proceed towards product formation |
| Stability | Unstable, can either form products or dissociate into original reactants | Highly unstable, typically exists for a very short time, then decays into products |
| Reaction Outcome | Can fall back to form reactants or proceed to form products | Always proceeds towards product formation |
In summary, an activated complex represents a range of higher energy states and configurations formed during a chemical reaction, while the transition state is a specific, highly energetic configuration that occurs just before the formation of products. The activated complex is unstable and can either form products or revert to reactants, whereas the transition state is highly unstable and always leads to product formation.
- Collision Theory vs Transition State Theory
- Kinetic Energy vs Activation Energy
- Free Energy vs Activation Energy
- Activation Energy vs Threshold Energy
- Elementary vs Complex Reaction
- Ground State vs Excited State
- Equation of State vs Activity Coefficient
- Transition vs Transversion
- Fluxionality vs Tautomerism
- Substrate vs Active Site
- Electronic Rotational vs Vibrational Transition
- Carbonyl vs Nitrosyl Complexes
- Transition Metals vs Metals
- Covalency vs Oxidation State
- Inert vs Labile Complexes
- Active Transport vs Facilitated Diffusion
- Transition Metals vs Inner Transition Metals
- Glycolysis Krebs Cycle vs Electron Transport Chain
- High Spin vs Low Spin Complexes