Can a catalyst react with a reactant?
it can react to start the reaction but should be regenerated during the reaction. if it reacts and not regenerated,then its better to call it reactant instead of catalyst
Exactly no. A catalyst just provides a shortcut to a reaction and thats is by combining with the reactant and at end of reaction it splits from the reactant it combined with.if a catalyst reacts then it is not a catalyst
Some catalysts form intermediate complexes with the reactants and this helps to increase the reaction rate. But they leave the reactants alone after the product is formed.
Catalysts are of different categories. There are some reactions, in which only the presence of some compound increases/decreases the rate of the reaction. In other examples, the catalyst do react with the reactants and provide a different path for the reaction. The product is formed and the catalyst is recovered. Not even a single molecule is consumed after the reaction. But if you take a sample while the reaction is going on, you might find a decrease in the concentration of the catalyst. (An example is the use of Mangnese dioxide (MnO2) in the conversion of Potassium Chlorate (KClO3) to Potassium Chloride and oxygen. The MnO2 added at the initiation of the reaction is in form of crystals and at the end of the reaction it is recovered as finely divided powder. This simply shows that MnO2 reacted with KClO3 initially and finally got detached in form of a powder.)
