Title: branching chain reaction Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - branching chain reaction DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.B00723 Status: current Definition A chain reaction which includes a propagation step or steps in which there is an increase in the number of active intermediates; for example, is a branching reaction since one active intermediate (H) gives rise to two (OH and O). Related Terms - chain reaction: https://dev.goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/C00960 - propagation: https://dev.goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/P04881 Source - PAC, 1981, 53, 753. 'Symbolism and Terminology in Chemical Kinetics' on page 762 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac198153030753) Other Outputs - html: https://dev.goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/B00723/html - json: https://dev.goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/B00723/json - xml: https://dev.goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/B00723/xml Citation: Citation: 'branching chain reaction' 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.B00723 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. Collection: If you are interested in licensing the Gold Book for commercial use, please contact the IUPAC Executive Director at executivedirector@iupac.org . 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: 2025-07-13T10:22:51+00:00