Regular polymer nomenclature

The nomenclature of regular polymers can denote stereochemical features if the CRU used is the configurational base unit [10], i.e. a CRU having one or more sites of defined stereoisomerism in the main chain of a polymer molecule [11]. Structure-based names are then derived in the usual fashion. The various stereochemical features that are possible in a polymer must first be defined. 

The rules of structure-based nomenclature of regular single-strand organic polymers are of fundamental importance in polymer nomenclature. The names of other kinds of polymers such as double-strand [7] and irregular polymers [8] are based on the principles given in this Report. 

In 1968, the Commission on Macromolecular Nomenclature of the Macromolecular Division (Division IV) was established under the Chairmanship of Kurt L. Loening with first Lionel C. Cross and later Robert B. Fox as Secretary. A series of major documents was produced that shaped modem polymer language. Most noteworthy was one that defined basic terms [5,6] and another on stracture-based nomenclature for regular singlestrand polymers [7,8]. The latter, originally developed by the Nomenclature Committee of the Polymer Division of the American Chemical Society and refined by the Commission, revolutionized polymer nomenclature by providing a systematic, consistent scheme particularly well-adapted to indexing it became the standard for Chemical Abstracts and... 

This brief review has emphasized the exceptions more than the regularities of the conventional polymer nomenclature. The reader will find that this jargon is not as formidable as it may appear to be on first encounter. A very little practice is all that is usually needed to recognize repeating units, parent monomer structures, and the common names. 

Specific rules also are applied for polymers with other regular structures such as ladder type polymers or spiro polymers [3]. For single-strand linear copolymers with irregular structures, the name is given as poly(first constitutional repeating unit/second constitutional repeating unit) , etc. Detailed explanations for polymer nomenclature can be found in various reference materials (see e.g. [4]). 

The Commission on Macromolecular Nomenclature defined 52 terms related to polymer structure, including polymer, constitutional units, monomer, polymerization, regular polymer, tactic polymer, block polymer, graft polymer, monomeric unit, degree of polymerization, addition polymerization, condensation polymerization, homopolymer. 

Evidently, the mles of stmcture-based nomendature for regular single-strand polymers are of fundamental importance in polymer nomenclature. They are the basis of the names of other types of polymers such as double-strand" and irregular polymers. Each macromolecule in a polymer may have a different stmctural arrangement and length from the others in... 

Structure-Based Polymer Nomenclature Regular Single-Strand Polymers... 

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). 

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). 

A Macromolecular Division of lUPAC was created in 1967, and it created a permanent Commission on Macromolecular Nomenclature, parallel to the other nomenclature commissions. The Commission over the years has issued recommendations on basic definitions, stereochemical definitions and notations, stmcture-based nomenclature for regular single-strand organic polymers and regular single-strand and quasisingle-strand inorganic and coordination polymers, source-based nomenclature for copolymers, and abbreviations for polymers. AH of these are coUected in a compendium referred to as the lUPAC Purple Book (99). 

Recommendations on additional aspects of macromolecular nomenclature such as that of regular double-strand (ladder and spiro) and irregular single-strand organic polymers continue to be pubHshed in I ure and Applied Chemistty (100,101). Recommendations on naming nonlinear polymers and polymer assembHes (networks, blends, complexes, etc) are expected to be issued in the near future. 

IUPAC Commission on Macromolecular Nomenclature, Nomenclature of regular single-strand organic polymers (Recommendations 1975), Pure Appl. Chem., 48, 373-385 (1976) Compendium of Macromolecular Nomenclature , Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, p.91 (1991). 

M. L. Huggins, G. Natta, V. Desreux, H. Mark (for lUPAC Commission on Macromolecules). Report on nomenclature dealing with steric regularity in high polymers ,/. Polym. Sci. 56, 153-161 (1962) Pure Appl. Chem. 12, 643-656 (1966). 

Structure-based and source-based nomenclature rules have been extended to regular double-strand (ladder and spiro) organic polymers [7]. A double-strand polymer is defined as a polymer the molecules of which are formed by an uninterrupted sequence of rings with adjacent rings having one atom in common (spiro polymer) or two or more atoms in common (ladder polymer). 

Table 6. Examples of structure-based nomenclature for regular double-strand (ladder and spiro) organic polymers...

Nomenclature of Regular Single-Strand Organic Polymers... 

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