title: How fast is a fast equilibrium? A new view of reversible reactions.
abstract: Reversible reactions are described in terms of kinetic cycles. From this description, two useful parameters arise: 1) average cycle duration and 2) average number of cycles. The latter applies to cycles with at least one unstable species. These parameters allow answering the question "How fast is a fast equilibrium?" in absolute and in relative terms, respectively. The general interest of the approach is demonstrated by application to reactions drawn from several areas: Acid-base equilibria, enzyme kinetics, excited-state proton transfer, thermally activated delayed fluorescence, monomer-excimer kinetics and homo-FRET.
authors.affiliation: CQFM-Centro de Química-Física Molecular and IN-Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Baleizão
authors.forename: Mário N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Berberan-Santos