the overall reaction. For example, consider this hypothetical reaction:
:A + B -> C + DIf this overall reaction comprises two elementary steps thus:
:A + B -> X
:X -> C + Dthen X is a reaction intermediate.

The phrase reaction intermediate is often abbreviated to the single word intermediate, and this is IUPAC's preferred form of the term.

In most non-biological cases, a reaction intermediate is also a reactive intermediate: a short-lived, high-energy species

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