comma before present participle: the synthesis of a Triflour having a

[sansoni]

Hello,

I was wondering if comma usage was necessary before having, in this case:

We report on the synthesis of a Triflour having a triazole as a linkage of...

thanks

 

[Loob]

I'm afraid I have no idea how to answer your question, sansoni.

This is because
(a) you haven't given us a complete sentence
(b) you haven't given us any context, so I have no idea what your extract is intended to mean....

 

[sansoni]

Sorry, I'll try to fix that

The sentence (from a chemistry paper) reads:

In this paper, we report on the convergent synthesis of a Triflour having a triazole as a linkage of imidazol and phenyl.

 

[JamesM]

I don't know anything about Triflour(s), but the comma would change the meaning. Without the comma it is talking about a particular Triflour that has a triazole as a linkage, etc. With the comma it would mean that all Triflour(s) have a triazole as a linkage.

 

[PaulQ]

If there were a comma after Triflour, it may give the impression that the phrase "we report on the convergent synthesis of a Triflour" was in parenthesis.

I would have no comma but substitute having by 'with'

 

[sansoni]

Thank you all for your answers

 

[JamesM]

If there were a comma after Triflour, it may give the impression that the phrase "we report on the convergent synthesis of a Triflour" was in parenthesis.

I don't quite understand this. If I say:

"This boat is an unusual type of catamaran, having four hulls rather than the more common two or even three."

I don't see how "This boat is an unusual type of catamaran" is a parenthetical thought.