Reactants:
* Are the starting materials in a chemical reaction.
* They are consumed during the reaction, transforming into products.
* Can be elements, compounds, or ions.
Substrates:
* Are the specific reactants that interact with an enzyme.
* The enzyme acts upon the substrate, facilitating the reaction.
* Typically refer to the specific molecules that enzymes bind to and transform.
In essence:
* All substrates are reactants, but not all reactants are substrates.
* Substrates are a subset of reactants specific to enzyme-catalyzed reactions.
Example:
* In the reaction of glucose and oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water, both glucose and oxygen are reactants.
* However, in the enzymatic breakdown of glucose to pyruvate, glucose is the substrate for the enzyme hexokinase.
Therefore, you can think of substrates as a specialized type of reactant in the context of enzyme-catalyzed reactions.
