Active chemical substance (7)
I believe the answer is:
reagent
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">active chemical substance</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">(I've seen this in another clue)</span><br/ ><br/ >This is all the clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for reagent that I've seen before include "Chemical in reaction" , "Chemical substance used in tests" , "Substance with characteristic reactions, used as a chemical test" , "Chemically active substance" , "What causes change" .)