Model problems in depolymerization kinetics of chain oligomers: 1. Successive detachment of monomer units from the chain end

Abstract

For the successive detachment of monomer units from the end of a macroradical (one of the two main depolymerization mechanisms, of which the other is random chain scission), the time dependence of the monomers concentration, the average chain length, and width of the chain-length distribution of oligomers with allowance for the reverse reactions of monomer attachment to the radicals has been revealed without the use of the quasi-steady state approximation. The conditions under which the chain scission and the monomer evaporation occur at thermal equilibrium have been found.