Synthesis and radical polyaddition of optically active monomers derived from cysteine

Synthesis and radical polyaddition behavior of N-methacryloyl-L-cysteine me thyl eater (MA-C-M), N-4-pentenoyl-L-cysteine methyl ester (P-C-M), and N-4 -vinylbenzoyl-L-cysteine methyl ester (V-C-M) were examined. Although MA-C- M afforded a cross-linked polymer and P-C-M did not polymerize at 60 degree s C, V-C-M polymerized satisfactorily to afford the corresponding polysulfi de with M-n's in the range 7000-23 000 in good yields. The molecular weight of poly(V-C-M) increased after post-polymerization, indicating the teleche lic structure with mercapto and olefin moieties at the polymer ends. The sp ecific rotation and CD spectrospecific analysis suggested that poly(V-C-M) had some higher order structures.