Response to the following:
A recent article [James, K. and J. Kohn, New biomaterials for tissue engineering, MRS Bull.,(1996)] describes the use of tyrosine-derived polycarbonates for tissue engineering, specifically as a resorbable substrate for small bone fixation. Three similar polycarbonates (DTE, DTH, and DTO) were considered, all having the general structure shown below where the size of the "pendant" chain (side chain in the circle) can be varied during synthesis. If x = 2, the pendant chain contains an ethyl group, and the polymer is called DTE ("E" for ethyl). Similarly, x = 6 for DTH ("hexyl") and x = 8 for DTO ("octyl").
If the weight average molecular weight for DTH is 350,000, what is its number average degree of polymerization, assuming that it is monodispersed?
