Towards a potential-based analysis of reacting systems11The research presented in this paper was supported by the Belgian Interuniversity Attraction Poles Phase VII/19 — “Dynamical systems, control and optimization” (DYSCO) and the Belgian Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS). The second author gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Viet Nam National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED) through project code 104.99-2014.74.