Appendix 2
Initiators are substances that need to be present to produce certain high polymers.
They help to bring about polymerisation and can appear in the end product – in
contrast to catalysts (reaction accelerators). Although the latter are involved in the
chemical reaction temporarily, they are unchanged by it.
Appendix 3
The Swiss botanist Carl Wilhelm von Na ¨geli (1817–1891) coined the term
“micelle” (from the Latin word micella, meaning “crumb”) in the nineteenth
century. His studies about starch, cellulose and various types of protein led him
to assume that “organised bodies”, i.e. substances extracted from biological systems, consisted of aggregates that were in turn made up of molecules. Na ¨geli named
these aggregates, the size of which was between molecules and visible crystals,
micelles. Staudinger [10, pp. 8–9] writes: “[. . .] numerous small molecules are held
together by weak inter-molecular forces in a micelle; an increase in temperature or
a change in solvent can already cause them to disintegrate as a result.”
Appendix 4
Letter of 2 November 1928 from Hermann Mark to Hermann Staudinger (excerpt;
quoted in [15], pp. 93–94):
I was sorry to read in your letter that you feel your priority has been violated by
the statements made by Professor Meyer. I am convinced that nothing was further
from Professor Meyer’s mind than this and I myself have also tried especially hard
to emphasise the importance of your fine work appropriately, not only in our work
but also and in particular in my lecture in Hamburg.
I do, however, consider it sensible to introduce the word ‘primary valence
chain’, because it refers to structures that are not completely identical to what has
been called a molecule up to now. I always associate the word ‘molecule’ with the
concept of a large number of completely identical structures, whereas the term
primary valence chain is specifically supposed to include the fact that the same
substance contains structures that are very similar to each other, cannot be separated
from each other by chemical methods but differ from one another a little in their
size, so that while it is not possible to indicate a precise molecular weight, an
average primary valence chain length can be quoted. If this fact is specifically
added to your macromolecule, then the two terms are, as far as I can see, identical
and it is a question of convenience whether one says ‘primary valence chains’ or
‘macromolecules of fluctuating size’.
134
M. Weber and G. Deussing
Initiators are substances that need to be present to produce certain high polymers.
They help to bring about polymerisation and can appear in the end product – in
contrast to catalysts (reaction accelerators). Although the latter are involved in the
chemical reaction temporarily, they are unchanged by it.
Appendix 3
The Swiss botanist Carl Wilhelm von Na ¨geli (1817–1891) coined the term
“micelle” (from the Latin word micella, meaning “crumb”) in the nineteenth
century. His studies about starch, cellulose and various types of protein led him
to assume that “organised bodies”, i.e. substances extracted from biological systems, consisted of aggregates that were in turn made up of molecules. Na ¨geli named
these aggregates, the size of which was between molecules and visible crystals,
micelles. Staudinger [10, pp. 8–9] writes: “[. . .] numerous small molecules are held
together by weak inter-molecular forces in a micelle; an increase in temperature or
a change in solvent can already cause them to disintegrate as a result.”
Appendix 4
Letter of 2 November 1928 from Hermann Mark to Hermann Staudinger (excerpt;
quoted in [15], pp. 93–94):
I was sorry to read in your letter that you feel your priority has been violated by
the statements made by Professor Meyer. I am convinced that nothing was further
from Professor Meyer’s mind than this and I myself have also tried especially hard
to emphasise the importance of your fine work appropriately, not only in our work
but also and in particular in my lecture in Hamburg.
I do, however, consider it sensible to introduce the word ‘primary valence
chain’, because it refers to structures that are not completely identical to what has
been called a molecule up to now. I always associate the word ‘molecule’ with the
concept of a large number of completely identical structures, whereas the term
primary valence chain is specifically supposed to include the fact that the same
substance contains structures that are very similar to each other, cannot be separated
from each other by chemical methods but differ from one another a little in their
size, so that while it is not possible to indicate a precise molecular weight, an
average primary valence chain length can be quoted. If this fact is specifically
added to your macromolecule, then the two terms are, as far as I can see, identical
and it is a question of convenience whether one says ‘primary valence chains’ or
‘macromolecules of fluctuating size’.
134
M. Weber and G. Deussing