Cooperative catalysis and chemical chaos: a chemical model for the Lorenz equations

A chemical reaction mechanism is presented that gives the Lorenz equations. After the axes are translated so that the range of all the variables (now representing concentrations) is in the positive quadrant, the resulting set of nonlinear equations can be interpreted in terms of straightforward chemical reactions. The mechanism requires some species to be in excess (constant concentration) and for some steps to be a slow, rate determining reaction, followed by a very fast (instantaneous) reaction. The mechanism does not involve autocatalysis but rather cooperative catalysis where the reactants mutually catalyze appropriate reactions.