[I. Aspart]

Could anyone please explain to me the following SEC results from a ε-caprolactone polymerization? Since I study biotechnological engineering, I have little knowledge about SEC (or analytical chemistry in general).

Mw is the mass average molar mass of the polymer, Mn the number average molar mass, t the time at which the sample was collected (measured from the beginning of the polymerization), and X is the chemical conversion at the time t.

t (min)           Mw             Mn           X
15                 242661       106456      <1 %
30                 15491         12948       28 %
45                 44465         32340       60 %
60                 84251         48938       86 %
120               112171        63348       88 %

The problem I'm facing is that I do not know why the molecular masses are so high at 15 minutes, drop significantly and rise again. I would expect that the molecular masses at 5 minutes are smaller than at later times.

I'd appreciate it if someone took the time to shed some light on this.

[MOTOBALL]

The easiest, most obvious answer is that you are the victim of transcription errors.