How Does Catalysis Help in Reducing Side Reactions?
Catalysts are designed to increase the rate of the desired reaction while minimizing side reactions. They achieve this by providing an alternative reaction pathway with a lower activation energy. Catalysts can also offer high selectivity, meaning they preferentially facilitate the desired reaction over others. This selectivity is often achieved through the specific interaction between the catalyst and the reactants, which can stabilize the transition state of the desired reaction more effectively than that of the side reactions.
