drawing activated complexes

[soniatripathy]

15.85 asks you to draw a proposed structure for the activated complex, is there a way to do that, i dont remember reading about it in the book? if there is a set process, what are the steps to drawing it?

[Justin Yu 3H]

Well, I don't think there's a "set" method of drawing them. You just examine the molecules that are reacting, and see which bonds are being broken between what atoms and which bonds are being formed. You then draw a complex combining the molecules, where the bonds that would form if the reaction went forward are partially formed, and the bonds that would break if the reaction went forward are partially broken (I think you draw these with a dotted line?). This is because the activated complex is in a position where it could either go to completion or fall back apart again, so it is in this ambiguous middle ground.