From owner-metabolic-reg@net.bio.net Mon Feb 10 22:00:00 1997
Path: biosci!daresbury!not-for-mail
From: g.c.brown@bioc.cam.ac.uk (Guy C Brown)
Newsgroups: bionet.metabolic-reg
Subject: MCA for chemistry
Date: 11 Feb 1997 10:10:51 -0000
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Dear All

I have been wondering for a while whether it would be worth
(I do not know where all these w-words came from)
developing a version of MCA for chemists.  Many if not most
chemical reactions are complex (i.e. have more than one step),
and there are many situations with a steady-state, e.g. chemical
reactors, atmospheric chemistry, etc..  Molecular control analysis
would be ideal for this, because it deals directly with the rate
constants, and there are a number of useful relations between
control coefficients and intermediate levels, rate constants,
thermodynamics, etc..

Now my question is "Is there already an MCA for chemistry,
and if not would it be useful?"
This was prompted by comments made by Paul Schlosser and
Stefan Schuster about related topics in chemistry.
I know that a type of sensitivity analysis is used to analyse
complex chemical reactions like cracking of hydrocarbons,
but this is limited to a sensitivity analysis and does not use
the theorems of MCA.

If there is no MCA for chemists, and it is useful, would
anyone like to join me in writing a short paper for a
chemical journal?
Does anyone know of a chemical reaction which could easily
be analysed?

Dr Guy C. Brown
Department of Biochemistry,
University of Cambridge,
Tennis Court Road,
Cambridge CB2 1QW,
UK

Tel: +44 (0)1223 333342
Fax: +44 (0) 1223 333345



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