RE: Reaction rates, very basic

Title: Message
There are a number of theoretical approaches to determining reaction rates.  A broad division is between scattering approaches and transition state theoretical approaches.  There are many good introductions to these approaches.  Four that are particularly recommended (by me) are:
 
"Unimolecular Reactions" by Robinson and Holbrook
"Kinetics and Dynamics of Elementary Reactions" by Ian Smith
"Chemical Kinetics and Dynamics" by Steinfeld, Francisco and Hase
"Molecular Reaction Dynamics" by R. D. Levine
In addition, Keith Laidler's Kinetics books contain exceptionally lucid chapters on theories of reaction rates.
 
Best regards,
Samuel A. Abrash
Department of Chemistry
University of Richmond
Richmond, VA 23173
Phone:  804-289-8248
Fax:  804-297-1897
E-mail:  sabrash_at_richmond.edu
Web-page:  http://oncampus.richmond.edu/~sabrash
 

"Rabbi Yitzhak said:  At the time God created the world and desired to reveal the depth of His being > from out of the hidden, the light came from the darkness and they were joined together.  Because of this, out of darkness came the light and out of the hidden came the revealed and out of the good came evil and out of mercy came severe judgement, and everything is intertwined  with everything else...the good inclination and the evil inclination, the right and the left." - The Zohar

-----Original Message-----
From: Computational Chemistry List [mailto:chemistry-request_at_ccl.net] On Behalf Of LEDM (Leonardo De Maria)
Sent: Sunday, June 26, 2005 6:04 PM
To: CHEMISTRY_at_ccl.net
Subject: CCL:Reaction rates, very basic

Hi,
 
are there all the reaction rates derived experimentally? Aren't there any rules/principles that can be
obtained from theory? Any "symmetry considerations" giving raise to constraints to the possible
mathematical forms?
 
Thanks in advance,
 
Leonardo