Where are they good catalysts and why?? THanks!
A catalyst is a substance that speeds up a chemical reaction by providing an alternate reaction pathway with a lower activation energy. Catalysts appear not to take part in the reaction. Frequently, catalysts are not very reactive. Acids and bases, on the other hand, are very reactive. Acids (as H+) and bases ( as OH-) sometimes function as catalysts in some organic reactions. They appear to be catalysts because in the course of the mechanism H+ or OH- is regenerated.
