Nomenclature of macromolecules

The nomenclature of macromolecules can be compHcated when there is Httle or no regularity in the molecules for such molecules, the stmctural details may also be uncertain. In cases where the macromolecule is a polymeric chain with some uncertainties about regularity in its stmcture, a simple expedient is to name the polymer after the monomer that gave rise to it. Thus there are source-based names such as poly(vinyl chloride). 

Byron Riegel, chairman, Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, 111. Subcommittee on the Nomenclature of Macromolecules (not under Lucas NRC committee) Herman F. Mark, chairman, Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, Brooklyn 2, N. Y. 

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (lUPAC) formed a Subcommission on Nomenclature of Macromolecules in 1952 and has proceeded to study various topics related to cyclic polymers, blends, composites, cross-linked polymers, block copolymers, etc. lUPAC periodically reports its decisions regarding nomenclature (1, 7, and ). Even so, these rules have not been generally accepted for common polymers by the majority of those in polymer science. 

Polynucleotides composed of repeatins sequences or of unknown sequence may be representedby either of two systems essentially identical with those devised and recommended by the lUPAC Commission on Nomenclature of Macromolecules and by the American Chemical Society s Polymer Nomenclature Commission (see also Synthetic Polypeptides [6]). 

The first attempt to formulate a systematic nomenclature for polymers was based on the smallest repeating stmctural unit it was pubHshed in 1952 by a Subcommission on Nomenclature of the lUPAC Commission on Macromolecules (95). The report covered not only the naming of polymers, but also symbology and definitions of terms. However, these nomenclature recommendations did not receive widespread acceptance. Further progress was slow, with a report on steric regularity in high polymers pubHshed in 1962 and updated in 1966 (96). 

Two systems of polymer nomenclature have been introduced - the source-based and the structure-based. The latter cannot be used for all types of macromolecule, e.g., statistieal copolymer molecules and polymer networks. lUPAC expresses no strong preference for the use of structure-based nomenclature versus source-based nomenclature, but for certain purposes one system of naming may be preferred to the other.. ... 

Graphic representations (chemical formulae) of macromolecules are used extensively in the scientific literature on polymers including lUPAC documents on macromolecular nomenclature. This document establishes rules for the unambiguous representation of macromolecules by chemical formulae. The rules apply principally to synthetic macromolecules. Insofar as is possible, these rules are consistent with the formulae given in lUPAC documents [2-4] and they also cover the presentation of formulae for irregular macromolecules [5], copolymer molecules [1, 6] and star macromolecules. 

The first publication of the lUPAC in the area of macromolecular nomenclature was in 1952 by the Sub-commission on Nomenclature of the then lUPAC Commission on Macromolecules, which drew on the talents of such remarkable individuals as J. J. Hermans, M. L. Huggins, O. Kratky, and H. F. Mark. That report [1] was a landmark in that, for the first time, it systematized the naming of macromolecules and certain symbols and terms commonly used in polymer science. It introduced the use of parentheses in source-based polymer names when the monomer from which the polymer is derived consists of more than one word, a practice that is now widely followed, and it recommended an entirely new way of naming polymers based on their structure that included the suffix amer , a recommendation that has been almost totally ignored. After ten years, the Sub-commission issued its second report [2], which dealt with the then-burgeoning field of stereoregular polymers. A revision [3] of definitions in the original report appeared four years later. In 1968, a summary report [4] of the activities of the Subcommission was published. 

Report of the Committee on Nomenclature of the International Commission on Macromolecules, J. Polym. Sci., PartB Polym. Lett. 6, 257-260 (1968). Obsolete. 

By copolymerization we understand the mutual polymerization of two or more monomers, with the resulting macromolecules containing repeating units of all the participating monomers. Depending on the distribution of the monomers in the macromolecules one differentiates four types of copolymers (nomenclature of copolymers see Sect.1.2) ... 

Mesophase materials of linear, flexible macromolecules have gained attention only more recently, when it was found that parallel molecular orientation is easily achieved in some of these mesophases. This orientation can lead to high modulus and tensile strength 6). Presently there exists a certain amount of confusion in the literature about the description, properties, and nomenclature of these macromolecular mesophases and their place in the arrangement of all matter. Even for the better understood small-molecule mesophases there are some problems in the description of glasses and in the separation of orientational and conformational disorder. Also, the distinction between mesophases based on molecular structure and on super-molecular structure is not always made. We will try in this review to clarify some of these points. 

International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (1952). Report on Nomenclature in the Field of Macromolecules. J. Polymer Sci. 8, 257, especially pp. 269-270. 

Formation of the acquired salivary pellicle is the result of biopolymer adsorption at the tooth-saliva interface. The term acquired pellicle was first suggested in a review of the nomenclature of the enamel surface integuments by Dawes et al. [1], to describe the cuticular material formed on the enamel surface after eruption. The pellicle consists of adsorbed proteins and other macromolecules from the oral environment (saliva, crevicular fluids) and is clearly distinguished from the microbial biofilm (plaque) (fig. 1). 

Figure 2.10 The most frequently occurring space groups for macromolecules C2 (7.7%), C222, (5.9%), P2, (12.4%), and P2,2,2, (27.7%) are shown. The nomenclature of this figure is based on International Tables for Crystallography (for P2, and P2]2i2i from Volume A (1987) and for C2 and C222] from Volume 1 (1959), to illustrate the newer and older types of nomenclature in these tables of space groups). Reproduced with the permission of the International Union of Crystallography.

A comprehensive book dealing with biological, chemical, and medical aspects of proteoglycans has been published.Detailed coverage is given to the nomenclature of the macromolecules, their occurrence, function, isolation, and component analysis. Further chapters give detailed information on their... 

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