Comonomer

In polymer chemistry, a comonomer refers a polymerizable precursor to a copolymer aside from the principal monomer. In some cases, only small amounts of a comonomer are employed, in other cases substantial amounts of comonomers are used. Furthermore, in some cases, the comonomers are statistically incorporated within the polymer chain, whereas in other cases, they aggregate. The distribution of comonomers is referred to as the "blockiness" of a copolymer. 1-Octene, 1-hexene, and 1-butene are widely used comonomers in the manufacture of polyethylenes. The advantages to such copolymers has led to a focus on catalysts that facilitate the incorporation of these comonomers, e.g., constrained geometry complexes.