Title: chain transfer
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - chain transfer
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.C00963
Status: current

Definition
The abstraction, by the radical end of a growing chain-polymer, of an atom from another molecule. The growth of the polymer chain is thereby terminated but a new radical, capable of chain propagation and polymerization, is simultaneously created. For the example of alkene polymerization cited for a chain reaction, the reaction:  represents a chain transfer, the radical $\ce{Cl3C^{.}}$ inducing further polymerization:   The phenomenon occurs also in other chain reactions such as cationic polymerization.

Related Terms
- abstraction: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/A00045
- cationic polymerization: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/C00910
- chain reaction: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/C00960
- polymerization: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/P04740
- propagation: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/P04881
- radical: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/R05066
- telomerization: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/T06260

Source
- PAC, 1994, 66, 1077. 'Glossary of terms used in physical organic chemistry (IUPAC Recommendations 1994)' on page 1094 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac199466051077)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/C00963/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/C00963/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/C00963/xml

Citation: Citation: 'chain transfer' 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.C00963
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Accessed: 2026-04-20T19:27:14+00:00