AbstractsChemistry

Note: p. 87, 88 skipped in manuscript. The ability of certain polymer molecules to form side chains or branches has been suspected for some time, but the complexity of the systems where it is believed to occur has made the determination of the existence or extent of branching uncertain. The work which follows was done with two main objectives in mind; to develop a controlled method of producing branched and linear polymers suitable for comparative studies and, if successful, to investigate some of their properties, it was hoped that the information forthcoming would be of assistance in the further study of branching phenomena and an aid to the interpretation of experimental results in complicated systems, such as GR-S where branching is believed to have considerable influence on the properties of the final product. Before presenting the experimental results, it is necessary to describe some of the characteristics of high polymers which have bearing on the problem of branching.[...]