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Updated: Jul 24, 2026

Ethylene Polymerizations Using Parallel Pressure Reactors and a Kinetic Analysis of Chain Transfer Polymerization
Published on: November 27, 2015
Polymer stereochemistry: an opportunity and a challenge on Titan
1Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA. dad@igor.caltech.edu
Abstract:
It is suggested here that an alternative strategy for detecting signs of prebiotic chemistry on Titan would be to search for stereoregular polymers. Laboratory simulations of Titan's atmosphere suggest several interesting reactive vinyl monomers, including acrylonitrile. Polyacrylonitrile and derivatives made by side chain modification would be very interesting structures that could be envisioned as progenitors of complex chemical systems. The issues and challenges of considering polymer, rather than small molecule, stereochemistry as an indicator of prebiotic chemistry on Titan are briefly discussed.
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