End-group

From Plastics Wiki, free encyclopedia

An end-group in polymer chemistry is a constitutional unit that is an extremity of a macromolecule or oligomer molecule. For example the end-group of a PET polyester may be a alcohol group or a carboxylic acid group. End groups in macromolecules may have special reactivity in follow-up reactions, see graft copolymers, or end groups can be used to determine molar mass.

[edit]