Applied to a chemical species, the term expresses a kinetic property in reference to another species. The tag should be applied to questions seeking answers with respect to the reactivity (or unreactivity) of a certain chemical compound, species, molecular entity and/or functional groups. It must not be applied to questions about the stability of certain chemical species.
Applied to a chemical species, the term expresses a kinetic property in reference to another species. The IUPAC goldbook defines the term reactive:
As applied to a chemical species, the term expresses a kinetic property. A species is said to be more reactive or to have a higher reactivity in some given context than some other (reference) species if it has a larger rate constant for a specified elementary reaction. The term has meaning only by reference to some explicitly stated or implicitly assumed set of conditions. It is not to be used for reactions or reaction patterns of compounds in general. The term is also more loosely used as a phenomenological description not restricted to elementary reactions. When applied in this sense the property under consideration may reflect not only rate, but also equilibrium, constants.
Closely related (and therefore the tag also applies to) is the concept of being unreactive, as defined by the IUPAC goldbook:
Failing to react with a specified chemical species under specified conditions. The term should not be used in place of stable, since a relatively more stable species may nevertheless be more reactive than some reference species towards a given reaction partner.
The tag should be applied to questions seeking answers with respect to the reactivity (or unreactivity) of a certain chemical compound, species, molecular entity and/or functional groups. It must not be applied to questions about the stability of certain chemical species.
