Introduction
摘要
Chemical kinetics is one of the oldest—classical—branches of physical chemistry intrinsically tied to the understanding ofReaction mechanisms reaction mechanismsMechanisms and to the assignation of specific rate constants to elementary mechanistic steps. Chemical kinetics is a science in itself, with its own concepts and methods of reasoning, but that makes use of knowledge from other areas of chemistry and/or science (thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, physics, biology, etc.). Its main objective is the determination, interpretation, and use of the laws which govern the rates of chemical reactions. It is concerned with the “how, why and when” of chemical reactions, being a central intellectual cornerstone to the discipline of chemistry. And yet, it is of enormous practical importance as well because chemical reactions control our environment, our life progress, and our ability to prepare new materials.