The opposite of
stable, i.e. the
chemical species concerned has a higher molar Gibbs energy than some assumed standard. The term should not be used in place of
reactive or
transient, although more reactive or transient species are frequently also more unstable. (Very unstable chemical species tend to undergo exothermic
unimolecular decompositions. Variations in the structure of the related chemical species of this kind generally affect the energy of the
transition states for these decompositions less than they affect the stability of the decomposing chemical species. Low stability may therefore parallel a relatively high rate of
unimolecular decomposition.)
Source:
PAC, 1994, 66, 1077
(Glossary of terms used in physical organic chemistry (IUPAC Recommendations 1994))
on page 1175
Cite as:
IUPAC. Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"). Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997). XML on-line corrected version: http://goldbook.iupac.org (2006-) created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN 0-9678550-9-8.
doi:10.1351/goldbook.
