Title: insertion polymerization
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - insertion polymerization
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.08911
Status: current

Definition
Chain polymerization in which monomer units are sequentially inserted into a specific site within a polymer structure with retention of chain-end functionality.

Notes
1) The term insertion polymerization is most commonly used in the context of coordination polymerization but is occasionally also used to describe some forms of reversible-deactivation radical polymerization such as RAFT polymerization and aminoxyl-mediated radical polymerization.
2) The term polyinsertion is almost exclusively used in the context of coordination polymerization.

Related Terms
- RAFT polymerization: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/08935
- aminoxyl-mediated radical polymerization: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/08917
- coordination polymerization: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/08995
- coordination-insertion polymerization: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/08997
- reversible-deactivation radical polymerization: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/08916

Source
- PAC, 2022, 94, 1093. 'Terminology for chain polymerization (IUPAC Recommendations 2021)' on page 1101 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2020-1211)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/08911/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/08911/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/08911/xml

Citation: Citation: 'insertion polymerization' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.08911
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Accessed: 2026-06-22T04:09:18+00:00