The standard enthalpy of reaction (denoted ${\displaystyle \Delta _{\text{rxn}}H^{\ominus }}$ or ${\displaystyle \Delta H_{\text{reaction}}^{\ominus }}$) for a chemical reaction is the difference between total reactant and total product molar enthalpies, calculated for substances in their standard states. This can in turn be used to predict the total chemical bond energy liberated or bound during reaction, as long as the enthalpy of mixing is also accounted for.

For a generic chemical reaction

${\displaystyle \nu _{\text{A}}{\text{A}}+\nu _{\,{\text{B}}}{\text{B}}~+~...\rightarrow \nu _{\,{\text{X}}}{\text{X}}+\nu _{\text{Y}}{\text{Y}}~+~...}$

the standard enthalpy of reaction ${\displaystyle \Delta _{\text{rxn}}H^{\ominus }}$ is related to the standard enthalpy of formation ${\displaystyle \Delta _{\text{f}}H^{\ominus }}$ values of the reactants and products by the following equation:

${\displaystyle \Delta _{\text{rxn}}H^{\ominus }=\sum _{products,~p}\nu _{p}\Delta _{\text{f}}H_{p}^{\ominus }-\sum _{reactants,~r}\nu _{r}\Delta _{\text{f}}H_{r}^{\ominus }}$

In this equation, ${\displaystyle \nu _{p}}$ and ${\displaystyle \nu _{r}}$ are the stoichiometric coefficients of each product ${\displaystyle p}$ and reactant ${\displaystyle r}$. The standard enthalpy of formation, which has been determined for a vast number of substances, is the change of enthalpy during the formation of 1 mole of the substance from its constituent elements, with all substances in their standard states.

Standard states can be defined at any temperature and pressure, so both the standard temperature and pressure must always be specified. Most values of standard thermochemical data are tabulated at either (25°C, 1 bar) or (25°C, 1 atm).

For ions in aqueous solution, the standard state is often chosen such that the aqueous H⁺ ion at a concentration of exactly 1 mole/liter has a standard enthalpy of formation equal to zero, which makes possible the tabulation of standard enthalpies for cations and anions at the same standard concentration. This convention is consistent with the use of the standard hydrogen electrode in the field of electrochemistry. However, there are other common choices in certain fields, including a standard concentration for H⁺ of exactly 1 mole/(kg solvent) (widely used in chemical engineering) and ${\displaystyle 10^{-7}}$ mole/L (used in the field of biochemistry). For this reason it is important to note which standard concentration value is being used when consulting tables of enthalpies of formation.