Kinetic vs Thermodynamic Control
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Kinetic vs Thermodynamic Control
I understand the whole idea of how something can be thermodynamically favorable but not kinetically favorable and so it won't occur, like the idea that the transition from diamond to graphite is thermodynamically favored but not kinetically favored so it doesn't occur, so I was wondering if kinetics have "more say" in whether a reaction occurs. Because from what I understand it doesn't matter how thermodynamically favorable or unfavorable a reaction is, as long as it is kinetically unfavorable it will not occur, so is it possible for something that is thermodynamically favorable but kinetically unfavorable to occur?
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Re: Kinetic vs Thermodynamic Control
This is a great question! I'm not sure either, but I was thinking that maybe it could possibly occur if the temperature was manipulated high enough to overcome the energy barrier, since we learned that temperature can speed up reactions. I guess that technically wouldn't be "naturally" kinetically stable but I thought maybe it could happen.
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Re: Kinetic vs Thermodynamic Control
It is possible! This happens when the products are at a lower free energy, so are thermodynamically favorable, but have a higher activation energy.
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