Editing Catalysis (section)

===Reaction energetics===
[[File:CatalysisScheme-en.svg|thumb|upright=1.25|Generic potential energy diagram showing the effect of a catalyst in a hypothetical exothermic chemical reaction X + Y to give Z. The presence of the catalyst opens a different reaction pathway (shown in red) with lower activation energy. The final result and the overall thermodynamics are the same.]]
Catalysts enable pathways that differ from the uncatalyzed reactions. These pathways have lower [[activation energy]]. Consequently, more molecular collisions have the energy needed to reach the [[transition state]]. Hence, catalysts can enable reactions that would otherwise be blocked or slowed by a kinetic barrier. The catalyst may increase the reaction rate or selectivity, or enable the reaction at lower temperatures. This effect can be illustrated with an [[energy profile (chemistry)|energy profile]] diagram.

In the catalyzed [[elementary reaction]], catalysts do '''not''' change the extent of a reaction: they have '''no''' effect on the [[chemical equilibrium]] of a reaction. The ratio of the forward and the reverse reaction rates is unaffected (see also [[thermodynamics]]). The [[second law of thermodynamics]] describes why a catalyst does not change the chemical equilibrium of a reaction. Suppose there was such a catalyst that shifted an equilibrium. Introducing the catalyst to the system would result in a reaction to move to the new equilibrium, producing energy. Production of energy is a necessary result since reactions are spontaneous only if [[Gibbs free energy]] is produced, and if there is no energy barrier, there is no need for a catalyst. Then, removing the catalyst would also result in a reaction, producing energy; i.e. the addition and its reverse process, removal, would both produce energy. Thus, a catalyst that could change the equilibrium would be a [[perpetual motion machine]], a contradiction to the laws of thermodynamics.<ref>Robertson, A.J.B. (1970) ''Catalysis of Gas Reactions by Metals''. Logos Press, London.</ref> Thus, catalysts '''do not''' alter the equilibrium constant. (A catalyst can however change the equilibrium concentrations by reacting in a subsequent step. It is then consumed as the reaction proceeds, and thus it is also a reactant. Illustrative is the base-catalyzed [[hydrolysis]] of [[ester]]s, where the produced [[carboxylic acid]] immediately reacts with the base catalyst and thus the reaction equilibrium is shifted towards hydrolysis.)

The catalyst stabilizes the transition state more than it stabilizes the starting material. It decreases the kinetic barrier by decreasing the ''difference'' in energy between starting material and the transition state. It '''does not''' change the energy difference between starting materials and products (thermodynamic barrier), or the available energy (this is provided by the environment as heat or light).