Harukopolümeerides

Harukopolümeerides is a term used in polymer science to describe polymers that are formed through a chain-growth polymerization process, but where the monomer unit is incorporated into the polymer chain through a reaction that involves the breaking of a double bond or a ring-opening mechanism. This distinguishes them from addition polymers where monomers simply add to a growing chain without the loss of any atoms. Harukopolümeerides can also be formed from monomers that contain functional groups capable of undergoing ring-opening polymerization, such as cyclic esters or lactams.

The structure of the repeating unit in a harukopolümeeride differs from the original monomer because of the chemical transformation that occurs during polymerization. For instance, the polymerization of an alkene monomer to form a polyethylene chain involves the breaking of the carbon-carbon double bond and the formation of single bonds connecting the repeating ethylene units. Similarly, ring-opening polymerization of a cyclic ether like ethylene oxide results in a polyether chain where the ether oxygen is part of the polymer backbone. The properties of harukopolümeerides are highly dependent on the specific monomer used and the polymerization conditions.