Alkenyl-Substituted Methacrylates as Bifunctional Monomers in Radical Polymerization

This paper addresses the radical polymerization of dimethacryloyl monomers with double bonds of different activities. The preferential selective polymerization via methacrylate groups of bifunctional monomers with phenyl, phenyl benzoate, and biphenyl benzoate aromatic "cores" in the presence of less active methacrylamide double bonds is studied. It is shown that the initiated radical polymerization of the dimethacryloyl monomers in dimethylformamide at small conversions makes it possible to prepare soluble polymeric products containing free methacrylamide-methacrylate groups. The molar ratio of these methacrylamide-methacrylate groups depends on reactivity ratios r(1) and r(2) of the double bonds of different activities in the bifunctional monomers and on the conversions of the monomers.