Notes about nomenclature of infinite polymers

Disclaimer: these are just notes following a discussion on the topic should not be taken as reference material of any kind

IUPAC has an ongoing project to develop a comprehensive nomenclature: project 2014-001-2-200. There is a paper outlining the need for topology nomenclatures in organic crystals, doi:10.1021/acs.cgd.8b00126.

Looking at what IUPAC already offers for polymer nomenclature, here is a relevant section from "Glossary of basic terms in polymer science (IUPAC Recommendations 1996)", doi:10.1351/pac199668122287:

1.58 network

A highly ramified macromolecule (see Definition 1.1) in which essentially each constitutional unit (see Definition 1.14) is connected to each other constitutional unit and to the macroscopic phase boundary by any permanent paths through the macromolecule, the number of such paths increasing with the average number of intervening bonds; the paths must on the average be co-extensive with the macromolecule. Notes

1. Usually, and in all systems that exhibit rubber elasticity, the number of distinct paths is very high, but, in most cases, some constitutional units exist which are connected by a single path only.
2. If the permanent paths through the structure of a network are all formed by covalent bonds, the term covalent network may be used.
3. The term physical network may be used if the permanent paths through the structure of a network are not all formed by covalent bonds but, at least in part, by physical interactions, such that removal of the interactions leaves individual macromolecules or a macromolecule that is not a network

Thus the diamond network is a "covalent network", and if one adds weakly interacting side-chains to create smaller pores, those chains would possibly constitute a "physical network" within a "covalent network superstructure".

The functionalized diamond lattice could be called something like "net-poly-[oxy(1,4-dibromo-butane)]-ν-(tetrachlorosilane) f(4.0)", where a tetravalent silicon atom lost its 4 chlorine atoms to form -Si-O-CH2- bonds, and the bromine atoms would be the side-chains. This nomenclature is defined by rule 3.7 on page 7 of "Source-Based Nomenclature for Non-Linear Macromolecules and Macromolecular Assemblies (1997)", doi:10.1039/9781847559425-00382. Palindrome chains can probably be formed with the "bis-" prefix, although it is not clear how we could add the "-1,4-yl" suffix to denote missing hydrogen atoms at the connection points with the crosslinker.