Mathematical properties common in all mechanism models of chemical reactions

Abstract

In this work a systematic and in-depth analysis is attempted from a purely mathematical point of view, of the concept of the reaction mechanism. A rigorous and general definition of the term mechanism of a chemical reaction is introduced, which covers, as its subcases, all the existing definitions to date. Furthermore, a skeleton concept of the mechanism of a chemical reaction is established, which is formed from the intersection of logical attributes of all concepts of a mechanism and constitutes the maximum possible conceptual basis which is common to every concept of the reaction mechanism. Finally, a formal deductive theory is proposed and some theorems are proved, with respect to the above-mentioned skeleton concept, which reveal certain mathematical properties common to all mechanism models of chemical reactions.