Identifying Catalysts and Intermediates: Exploring Different Roles in Chemical Reactions

In the wonderful world of chemistry, there is an essential difference between catalysts and intermediates. In a chemical reaction, if several substances react with each other to produce a new substance, and the new substance can continue to participate in the reaction as a reactant to produce the final product, then this new substance is an intermediate product. It is only a short-term product of the intermediate process of a chemical reaction. Catalysts are different. If a substance participates in the reaction at the beginning of the reaction and is regenerated at the end, then it is a catalyst. The key role of a catalyst is to change the reaction rate. Whether it is used or not, it has no effect on the products before and after the reaction.

Catalysts need to be added before the reaction. Although they participate in the reaction, their quality and chemical properties remain unchanged before and after the reaction. Intermediates do not need to be added in advance. They are the products of a certain step in the step-by-step reaction rather than the final product. For example, in the process of converting carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide, certain substances act as catalysts to accelerate the reaction rate, and the unstable substances produced during the reaction are intermediate products.

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