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ChemicalReaction[reactantsproducts]

represents a chemical reaction between the given reactants and products.

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ChemicalReaction

ChemicalReaction[reactantsproducts]

represents a chemical reaction between the given reactants and products.

Details

  • reactants and products may be given as lists, {chem1, chem2,…} or associations of chemicals and amounts <|chemini,…|> where possible forms for chemi include:
  • ChemicalFormula[…]an entity with the given formula
    Molecule[…]a molecule
    Entity[…]a "Chemical", "Element" or "Particle" entity
    EntityInstance[…,"Phase""phase"]a chemical species with a given phase
  • ChemicalReaction["A + B → C + D"] will attempt to interpret the input string, creating Molecule or ChemicalFormula objects when possible.
  • A ChemicalReaction object need not be balanced; elements may appear on only one side or the other of the reaction. Use ReactionBalance to return a balanced reaction.
  • ChemicalReaction[…]["prop"] returns the value of "prop" for a given ChemicalReaction.
  • Possible values for "prop" include:
  • "Reactants"list of reactants
    "ReactantCounts"an Association of reactantini
    "Products"list of products
    "ProductCounts"an Association of productini
    "EquationDisplay"a display form of the reaction
    "EquationString"a string form of the reaction
    "ReverseReaction"a ChemicalReaction with the reactants and products swapped
    "ElementaryReactionType"elementary reaction type
    "Molecularity"number of reactants needed in the balanced reaction

Examples

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Basic Examples  (2)

Create a chemical reaction:

Wolfram Language code: ChemicalReaction[<|Entity["Chemical", "ZincHydroxide"] -> 1, Entity["Chemical", "HydrogenChloride"] -> 1|> -> <|Entity["Chemical", "ZincChloride"] -> 1, Entity["Chemical", "Water"] -> 2|>]

Find out if the reaction is balanced:

Wolfram Language code: ReactionBalancedQ[%]

Create a balanced form of the reaction:

Wolfram Language code: ReactionBalance[%%]

Create a balanced chemical reaction:

Wolfram Language code: ReactionBalance["AlPO4 + Ca(NO3)2 -> Al(NO3)3 + Ca3(PO4)2"]

Obtain a display form of the reaction:

Wolfram Language code: %["EquationDisplay"]//TraditionalForm

Get a string form of the reaction:

Wolfram Language code: %%["EquationString"]

Scope  (3)

Create a chemical reaction from a string:

Wolfram Language code: ChemicalReaction["Bi(NO3)3 + NaOH -> Bi(OH)3 + NaNO3"]

Get the counts of reactants:

Wolfram Language code: %["ReactantCounts"]

Create a reaction for the solvation of sodium hydroxide:

Wolfram Language code: ChemicalReaction["NaOH(s) -> Na+(aq) + OH-(aq)"]

Reverse the reaction:

Wolfram Language code: %["ReverseReaction"]

Create a reaction for the combustion of hydrogen:

Wolfram Language code: ChemicalReaction["O2 + H2 -> water"]

Find the reaction molecularity:

Wolfram Language code: %["Molecularity"]

This is because in the balanced reaction there are two hydrogen molecules and one oxygen molecule, for a total of three reactants:

Wolfram Language code: ReactionBalance[%%]

Find the elementary reaction type:

Wolfram Language code: %%%["ElementaryReactionType"]

Applications  (1)

Visualize a combustion reaction using 3D graphics:

Wolfram Language code: GraphicsRow /@ KeyValueMap[GraphicsColumn[ConstantArray[MoleculePlot3D[#1], #2], ImageSize -> 80]&] /@ ChemicalReaction[Association[Entity["Chemical", "2Methylpropane"] -> 2, Entity["Chemical", "MolecularOxygen"] -> 13] -> Association[Entity["Chemical", "CarbonDioxide"] -> 8, Entity["Chemical", "Water"] -> 10]]["ReactionRule"]
Wolfram Research (2021), ChemicalReaction, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ChemicalReaction.html.

Text

Wolfram Research (2021), ChemicalReaction, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ChemicalReaction.html.

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2021. "ChemicalReaction." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ChemicalReaction.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2021). ChemicalReaction. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ChemicalReaction.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2026_chemicalreaction, author="Wolfram Research", title="{ChemicalReaction}", year="2021", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ChemicalReaction.html}", note=[Accessed: 13-June-2026]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2026_chemicalreaction, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={ChemicalReaction}, year={2021}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/ChemicalReaction.html}, note=[Accessed: 13-June-2026]}