Editing Reaction mechanism (section)

==Other experimental methods to determine mechanism==
Many [[experiment]]s that suggest the possible sequence of steps in a reaction mechanism have been designed, including:

* measurement of the effect of temperature ([[Arrhenius equation]]) to determine the [[activation energy]]<ref>Espenson p.156-160</ref>
* [[spectroscopy|spectroscopic]] observation of [[reaction intermediates]]
* determination of the [[stereochemistry]] of products, for example in [[nucleophilic substitution]] reactions<ref>Morrison R.T. and Boyd R.N. ''Organic Chemistry'' (4th ed., Allyn and Bacon 1983) p.216-9 and p.228-231, {{ISBN|0-205-05838-8}}</ref>
* measurement of the effect of [[kinetic isotope effect|isotopic substitution]] on the reaction rate<ref>[[Peter Atkins|Atkins P]] and de Paula J, ''Physical Chemistry'' (8th ed., W.H. Freeman 2006) p.816-8 {{ISBN|0-7167-8759-8}}</ref>
* for reactions in solution, measurement of the effect of pressure on the reaction rate to determine the volume change on formation of the activated complex<ref>Moore J.W. and [[Ralph Pearson|Pearson R.G.]] ''Kinetics and Mechanism'' (3rd ed., John Wiley 1981) p.276-8 {{ISBN|0-471-03558-0}}</ref><ref>[[Keith J. Laidler|Laidler K.J.]] and Meiser J.H., ''Physical Chemistry'' (Benjamin/Cummings 1982) p.389-392 {{ISBN|0-8053-5682-7}}</ref>
* for reactions of ions in solution, measurement of the effect of [[ionic strength]] on the reaction rate<ref>Atkins and de Paula p.884-5</ref><ref>Laidler and Meiser p.388-9</ref>
* direct observation of the [[activated complex]] by [[femtochemistry|pump-probe spectroscopy]]<ref>Atkins and de Paula p.892-3</ref>
* infrared [[chemiluminescence]] to detect vibrational excitation in the products<ref>Atkins and de Paula p.886</ref><ref>Laidler and Meiser p.396-7</ref>
* [[electrospray ionization mass spectrometry]].<ref>Investigation of chemical reactions in solution using API-MS''
Leonardo Silva Santos, Larissa Knaack, Jurgen O. Metzger [[International Journal of Mass Spectrometry|Int. J. Mass Spectrom.]]; '''2005'''; 246 pp 84 - 104; (Review) {{doi|10.1016/j.ijms.2005.08.016}}</ref>
* [[crossover experiment (chemistry)|crossover experiments]].<ref>Espenson p.112</ref>