ABSTRACT
Most of the monomers widely employed for both vinyl and condensation polymers are derived indirectly from simple feedstock molecules. is synthesis of monomers is a lesson in inventiveness. e application of the saying that “necessity is the mother of invention” has led to the sequence of chemical reactions where little is wasted and by-products from one reaction are employed as integral materials in another. Following is a brief look at some of these pathways traced from basic feedstock materials. It must be remembered that often many years of eort were involved in discovering the conditions of pressure, temperature, catalysts, etc., which must be present as one goes from the starting materials to the products.
