no one gets out alive

Chemically speaking, a catalyst is a substance that initiates or accelerates a reaction without itself being affected.

Which is correct, as far as it goes, but it's also a reductionist view.

The catalyst may appear unchanged from its initial state, but nevertheless it participates in the reaction. The reactants adhere to its surface, and squirm inside its pores. They shed an electron here, two there, dropping the detritus of their old form and using the catalyst to re-shape themselves into a...