Polylactide. II. Viscosity–molecular weight relationships and unperturbed chain dimensions

Abstract

Abstract Mark–Houwink equations for benzene and chloroform solutions of S‐polylactide and racemic polylactide were established by end‐group analysis of partly hydrolyzed polymers. Unperturbed chain dimensions calculated for both polymers reveal a considerable difference and suggest a helical conformation for S‐polylactide in solution. This finding supports 1 H‐NMR observations that reveal chemical shift differences that appear when the same configurational sequence is present in two stable conformational states.