I  U  P  A  C






News & Notices

Organizations & People

Standing Committees

Divisions

Projects

Reports
..By Year
..By Division
..Other Committees
..Provisionals

Publications

Symposia

AMP

Links of Interest

Search the Site

Home Page

 

Pure Appl. Chem., Vol. 59, No. 5, pp. 691-693, 1987

MACROMOLECULAR DIVISION

COMMISSION ON MACROMOLECULAR NOMENCLATURE

Use of abbreviations for names of polymeric substances
(Recommendations 1986)
(Supersedes version published 1974)

The IUPAC Commission Macromolecular Nomenclature believes that the time is opportune for a new statement regarding the use of abbreviations for the names of polymers and polymeric materials. Previous recommendations by this Commission were published in 1974 (Ref. 1), and have been incorporated into an expanded draft international standard by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) (Ref. 2).

The Commission wishes to state that it has no intention, at present, of devising a new system of abbreviations, owing to the inherent difficulty of assigning systematic and unique abbreviations to polymeric structures. The Commission reminds the reader of the IUPAC policy of the use of abbreviations to the chemical literature (Ref. 3), which declares, in part, that:

"There are great advantages in defining all abbreviations, . . . ., in a single conspicuous place in each paper. This is preferably done near the beginning of the paper in a single list."

Indeed we urge that each abbreviation be fully defined the first time it appears in the text and that no abbreviation be used in titles of publications.

Those wishing to use abbreviations not contained in the 1974 document (Ref. 1) may refer to the current ISO list (Ref. 2). Both of these are reproduced in the appendices, for the convenience of the reader. It is to be noted that the ISO list in Appendix B uses nomenclature that is not necessarily in accord with IUPAC recommendations.

REFERENCES

1. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, "List of Standard Abbreviations (Symbols) for Synthetic Polymers and Polymer Materials 1974", Pure Appl. Chem. 40, 475 (1974).

2. International Organization for Standardization, International Standard ISO 1043-1986, "Plastics - Symbols and Codes - Part 1: Symbols for basic polymers and their modifications, and for plasticizers."

> Link to ISO

> Search ISO catalogue >> ISO Number 1043

3. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, "Use of Abbreviations in the Chemical Literature", Pure Appl. Chem. 52, 2229 (1980).

 

Appendix A

List of Abbreviations from the IUPAC Recommendations 1974

PAN

Polyacrylonitrile

PCTFE

Poly(chlorotrifluoroethylene)

PEO

Poly(ethylene oxide)

PETP

Poly(ethylene terephthalate)

PE

Polyethylene

PIB

Polyisobutylene

PMMA

Poly(methyl methacrylate)

POM

Poly(oxymethylene); polyformaldehyde

PP

Polypropylene

PS

Polystyrene

PTFE

Poly(tetrafluoroethylene)

PVAC

Poly(vinyl acetate)

PVAL

Poly(vinyl alcohol)

PVC

Poly(vinyl chloride)

PVDC

Poly(vinylidene dichloride)

PVDF

Poly (vinylidene difluoride)

PVF

Poly(vinyl fluoride)

 

Appendix B

List of Abbreviations from the
1984 Draft International Standard ISO 1043-1986
(Partial, edited list from Ref. 2)

Homopolymers and natural polymers

CA

Cellulose acetate

CAB

Cellulose acetate butyrate

CAP

Cellulose acetate propionate

CF

Cresol-formaldehyde

CMC

Carboxymethylcellulose

CN

Cellulose nitrate

CP

Cellulose propionate

EC

Ethylcellulose

EP

Epoxide; epoxy

MF

Melamine-formaldehyde

PA

Polyamide

PB

Polybutene-1

PBA

Poly(butyl acrylate)

PBT

Poly(butylene terephthalate)

PC

Polycarbonate

PDAP

Poly(diallyl phthalate)

PF

Phenol-formaldehyde

PUR

Polyurethane

PVB

Poly(vinyl butyral)

PVFM

Poly(vinyl formal)

PVK

Polyvinylcarbazole

PVP

Polyvinylpyrrolidinone

SI

Silicone

UF

Urea-formaldehyde

UP

Unsaturated polyester

 

Copolymeric materials

ABS Acrylonitrile/butadiene/styrene

A/MMA

Acrylonitrile/methyl methacrylate

ASA

Acrylonitrile/styrene/acrylate

A/EPDM/S

Acrylonitrile/ethylene-propylene-diene/styrene

E/EA

Ethylene/ethyl acrylate

E/P

Ethylene/propylene

EPDM

Ethylene/propylene/diene

E/VAC

Ethylene/vinyl acetate

FEP

Perfluoro (ethylene/propylene); tetrafluoroethylene/hexafluoropropylene

MPF

Melamine/phenol-formaldehyde

S/B

Styrene/butadiene

S/MS

Styrene/a-methylstyrene

VC/E

Vinyl chloride/ethylene

VC/E/MA

Vinyl chloride/ethylene/methyl acrylate

VC/E/VAC

Vinyl chloride/ethylene/vinyl acetate

VC/MA

Vinyl chloride/methyl acrylate

VC/MMA

Vinyl chloride/methyl methacrylate

VC/VAC

Vinyl chloride/vinyl acetate

VC/VDC

Vinyl chloride/vinylidene chloride

 


Page last modified 11 Janaury 2001.
Copyright ©2001 International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.
Questions or comments about IUPAC, please contact, the Secretariat.
Questions regarding the website, please contact web manager.