What is the difference between an activated complex and an intermediate? Select
ID: 973443 • Letter: W
Question
What is the difference between an activated complex and an intermediate? Select all that are true about this difference.
The intermediate is always of higher energy than the activated complex.
The activated complex represents a local minimum in the reaction profile.
The activated complex is an unstable (unobserved) structure corresponding to an energy maximum in the reaction profile.
An intermediate is the chemical structure present at the transition state.
An activated complex can not be isolated or observed in a chemical reaction.
Explanation / Answer
A reaction intermediate is a relatively high-energy species that has some short, but finite, lifetime during the course of a reaction. Intermediates reside in a local free energy minimum on the reaction coordinate - not a maximum. There are maxima on the reaction coordinate between the intermediates or between the reactants and an intermediate or between an intermediate and the products. "Activated complex" is a word used to describe the reacting molecule(s) in the transition state (at the top of the energy "barrier" and all th possible enery transitions nearby the highest point) the molecule must traverse on their way between reactants and products or between reactant and intermediate or between two intermediates or between and intermediate and the product.
The intermediates are species that reside in LOCAL free energy minima - they are in principle observable using spectroscopic means, sometimes they can be trapped and isolated. The activated complex is at the top of the energy barrier - it is not generally an observable or isolatable species.
considering this,
CONSIDERING all the points, only point C and E are true
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