PolymershardNUMERICAL

Consider a single, idealized alternating repeating unit of the biodegradable polyester PHBV, which cPolymers Chemistry Question

Question

Consider a single, idealized alternating repeating unit of the biodegradable polyester PHBV, which contains exactly one structural residue of each of its two comonomers. What is the total number of carbon atoms in this specific repeating block?

Answer: 9

💡 Solution & Explanation

PHBV is formed from 3-hydroxybutanoic acid (which contributes 4 carbons to the repeating unit) and 3-hydroxypentanoic acid (which contributes 5 carbons). Therefore, a single block containing one of each residue has $4 + 5 = 9$ carbon atoms.

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