Conversion (chemistry)
Encyclopedia
In chemistry, the phrase conversion has several meanings
- specifically the property 'X' related to the yieldYield (chemistry)In chemistry, yield, also referred to as chemical yield and reaction yield, is the amount of product obtained in a chemical reaction. The absolute yield can be given as the weight in grams or in moles...
'Y' by multiplication with the selectivity 'S', i.e. the mathematical definition X(conversion) * S(selectivity) = Y(yield), all calculated on a molar basis; e.g. in a certain reaction, 90% of substance A is converted (consumed), but only 80% of it is converted to the desired substance B and 20% to undesired by-products, so conversion of A is 90%, selectivity for B 80% and yield of substance B 72% (= 90% * 80%)
- in a general sense the action of a chemical reactionChemical reactionA chemical reaction is a process that leads to the transformation of one set of chemical substances to another. Chemical reactions can be either spontaneous, requiring no input of energy, or non-spontaneous, typically following the input of some type of energy, such as heat, light or electricity...
, e.g. the conversion of molecule A to molecule B; note that in this general sense, conversion rate would be synonymous with reaction rateReaction rateThe reaction rate or speed of reaction for a reactant or product in a particular reaction is intuitively defined as how fast or slow a reaction takes place...