DYNAMICS OF OPEN AND THE ALGEBRAIC Printed in Great Britain CHEMICAL SYSTEMS STRUCTURE OF THE UNDERLYING REACTION NETWORK

While there has been a longstanding interest in stability of non-isothermal reactors there has only recently developed a comparable interest in the dynamics of onen isothermal reactors with complex chemical reaction networks. In the recent literature there has been paid particular attention to the study of biological reaction systems which might exhibit sustained oscillations (biological clocks) or bistability (biological switches). Results are presented which bear upon the relationship between the algebraic structure of the underlvine reaction network and the extent to which reactors might give v rise to such “exotic” dynamics.