RT Journal Article
T1 Reactivity in Chemistry: the propensity view
A1 Suárez, Mauricio
A1 Sánchez Gómez, Pedro Juan
AB We argue for an account of chemical reactivities as chancy propensities, in accordance with the ‘complex nexus of chance’ defended by one of us in the past. Reactivities are typically quantified as proportions, and an expression such as “A + B → C” does not entail that under the right conditions some given amounts of A and B react to give the mass of C that theoretically corresponds to the stoichiometry of the reaction. Instead, what is produced is a fraction α < 1 of this theoretical amount, and the corresponding percentage is usually known as the yield, which expresses the relative preponderance of its reaction. This is then routinely tested in a laboratory against the observed actual yields for the different reactions. Thus, on our account, reactivities ambiguously refer to three quantities at once. They first refer to the underlying propensities effectively acting in the reaction mechanisms, which in ‘chemical chemistry’ (Schummer in Hyle 4:129–162, 1998) are commonly represented by means of Lewis structures. Besides, reactivities represent the probabilities that these propensities give rise to, for any amount of the reactants to combine as prescribed. This last notion is hence best understood as a single case chance and corresponds to a theoretical stoichiometric yield. Finally, reactivities represent the actual yields observed in experimental runs, which account for and provide the requisite evidence for/against both the mechanisms and single case chances ascribed.
PB Springer
SN 1386-4238
YR 2023
FD 2023-09-11
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/94245
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/94245
LA eng
NO Suárez, M. y Sánchez Gómez, P.J. (2023) «Reactivity in chemistry: the propensity view», Foundations of Chemistry, 25(3), pp. 369-380. doi:10.1007/S10698-023-09477-8.
NO Published Open Access in virtue of the transformative agreements CSIC-CRUE with Springer.
NO Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
NO Universidad Complutense de Madrid
DS Docta Complutense
RD 17 abr 2025