Reaction involving sites or groups on existing macromolecules or an interaction between existing macromolecules that results in the formation of a small region in a macromolecule from which at least four chains emanate.
Notes: - The small region may be an atom, a group of atoms, or a number of branch points connected by bonds, groups of atoms, or @O04286@ chains.
- A reaction of a reactive chain end of a @L03554@ with an internal reactive site of another @L03554@ results in the formation of a branch point, but is not regarded as a crosslinking reaction.
See also: crosslink
Source:
PAC, 2007, 79, 1801. 'Definitions of terms relating to the structure and processing of sols, gels, networks, and inorganic-organic hybrid materials (IUPAC Recommendations 2007)' on page 1821 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac200779101801)