9. Reaction Mechanisms, Pathways, Bioreactions, and Bioreactors

The next best thing to knowing something is knowing where to find it.

—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)

Overview. The topics of this chapter include the pseudo-steady state hypothesis (PSSH), enzyme mechanisms and reaction kinetics, and the growth of microorganisms.

We start with Section 9.1 where we discuss PSSH and the formation of active intermediate species, which disappear as fast as they are formed. Next we show how we apply the PSSH to active intermediate species to develop rate laws for chemical reactions that do not follow elementary rate laws.

To develop rate laws for nonelementary reactions we

• choose an active intermediate and a reaction mechanism,

• write the elementary ...

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