A
polymer derived from one species of (real, implicit or hypothetical)
monomer.
Notes:
-
Many polymers are made by the mutual reaction of complementary monomers. These monomers can readily be visualized as reacting to give an 'implicit monomer', the homopolymerization of which would give the actual product, which can be regarded as a homopolymer. Common examples are poly(ethylene terephthalate) and poly(hexamethylene adipamide).
-
Some polymers are obtained by the chemical modification of other polymers such that the structure of the macromolecules that constitute the resulting polymer can be thought of as having been formed by the homopolymerization of a hypothetical monomer. These polymers can be regarded as homopolymers. Example: poly(vinyl alcohol).
Source:
PAC, 1996, 68, 2287
(Glossary of basic terms in polymer science (IUPAC Recommendations 1996))
on page 2300
Cite as:
IUPAC. Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. (the "Gold Book"). Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A.Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford (1997). XML on-line corrected version: http://goldbook.iupac.org (2006-) created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN 0-9678550-9-8.
doi:10.1351/goldbook.
