Title: thermodynamic control
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - thermodynamic control
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.T06316
Status: current

Definition
The term characterizes conditions that lead to reaction products in a proportion governed by the equilibrium constant for their interconversion and/or for the interconversion of reaction intermediates formed in or after the rate-limiting step. (Some workers prefer to describe this phenomenon as 'equilibrium control'.)

Related Terms
- equilibrium constant: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/E02177
- intermediates: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/I03096
- kinetic control: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/K03398
- rate-limiting step: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/R05140

Source
- PAC, 1994, 66, 1077. 'Glossary of terms used in physical organic chemistry (IUPAC Recommendations 1994)' on page 1173 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199466051077)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/T06316/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/T06316/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/T06316/xml

Citation: Citation: 'thermodynamic control' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.T06316
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
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Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-06-14T09:14:53+00:00