The intersecting-state model is applied to calculate the energy barriers and rates of atom transfers, 5(N)2 reactions, proton transfers and electron transfers, including electron transfer at the metal-electrolyte interface. The calculated rates are usually within one order of magnitude of the experimental ones. These applications of the model reveal the main factors that influence the rates of these chemical reactions. The structural and electronic properties of reactants that are used in the calculations are the reaction energy, the hypervalency at the transition state, the bond lengths and for constants of the reactive bonds. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.