Term: ampholytic polymer
https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.AT07196

Definition:
polyelectrolyte composed of macromolecules containing both cationic and anionic groups, or corresponding ionizable groups.

Note: An ampholytic polymer in which ionic groups of opposite sign are incorporated into the same pendant groups is called, depending on the structure of the pendant groups, a @ZT07228@, @PT07226@, or @PT07220@.

Related Terms:
1) zwitterionic polymer (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.ZT07228).
2) polymeric inner salt (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.PT07226).
3) polybetaine (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.PT07220).
4) polyelectrolyte (http://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.P04728).

Source: PAC, 2006, 78, 2067. 'Terminology of polymers containing ionizable or ionic groups and of polymers containing ions (IUPAC Recommendations 2006)' on page 2068 (https://doi.org/10.1351/pac200678112067)

Citation: 'ampholytic polymer' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1351/goldbook.AT07196

License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.

Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.