Chemical Reactant
A chemical reactant is any substance that is directly involved in a chemical reaction. Though catalysts are necessary for many chemical reactions to take place, they are not consumed in the reaction and therefore are not classified as reactants.
Chemical reactants typically are substances, either elemental or compounds, that have not reached the optimum number of electrons in their outer valence levels. If two reactants with opposite needs – i.e., one needs an electron to complete the valence and one needs to get rid of one – are paired together, they will typically react. For simpler atoms and elements, the reaction can be written as a simple equation, with the end product balancing in number of electrons in the outer valence shell.
When a reactant interacts with a catalyst, it is an intermediate step in an overall reaction – similar to a person who hands an object from one person to another person. The catalyst will regenerate by the end of the reaction, and only the reactants involved in the reaction will change chemically. Typical reactions include acid-base reactions, oxidation-reduction reactions, formation of free radicals, and formation of coordination complexes.
Web Resources On Chemical Reactant
Balancing Chemical Reactions
Wikipedia: Chemical Reaction
Book Resources On Chemical ReactantChemical Reaction Engineering by Octave Levenspiel
Purification of Laboratory Chemicals by Armarego & Chai
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