Template polymerization of acrylamide in the presence of several homo- andcopolymers including methyl vinyl ketone, methyl methacrylate, and styrene

Template polymerization of acrylamide (AAm) in the presence of several homo - and copolymers such as poly(methyl vinyl ketone) (poly-MVK), poly(methyl methacrylate) (poly-MMA), copoly(MVK-styrene) and copoly(MMA-styrene) was c arried out in THF at 30 or 40 degrees C. The rate of polymerization (Rp) of AAm was greatly enhanced by the presence of a template polymer. However, a small amount of styrene (St) units in the template polymer markedly decrea sed the Rp of AAm. It was assumed that the contamination of the St units in the chain of the template polymer impeded the continuous absorption of AAm monomers onto the active sites of the template polymer. Also, the effect o f stereo-regularity of poly-MMA on the Rp and the number-average molecular weight (Mn) of the resulting poly-AAm was investigated. The syndiotactic po ly-MMA had pronounced influence on the Rp of AAm and Mn of poly-AAm compari ng with the isotactic poly-MMA. This effect can be explained in the terms o f the different conformational features of the two tacticity forms of templ ates.