Substrate (chemistry)

In chemistry, a substrate is typically the chemical species being observed in a chemical reaction, which reacts with a reagent to generate a product. It can also refer to a surface on which other chemical reactions are performed, or play a supporting role in a variety of spectroscopic and microscopic techniques. In synthetic and organic chemistry, the substrate is the chemical of interest that is being modified. In biochemistry, an enzyme substrate is the material upon which an enzyme acts. When referring to Le Chatelier's principle, the substrate is the reagent whose concentration is changed. The term substrate is highly context-dependent.