Cyclopolymerization. XIX. Effect of N-substituents on cyclopolymerizability of N-allylmethacrylamides

The effect of bulky N-substitutents of N-t-butyl- and N-phenyl-N-allylmethacrylamides (BAMA and PAMA, respectively) on their cyclopolymerizability was investigated. BAMA yielded an almost completely cyclized polymer while the degree of cyclization of poly (PAMA) was about 95%. The latter value indicates that the effect of phenyl group is comparable with that of methyl group, since N-methyl-N-allylmethacrylamide was reported to give a polymer with a degree of cyclization of 93%. Structural investigation on telomerization products of BAMA and PAMA permitted the assignment of the repeating cyclic units of these polymers to that of a five-membered ring. This structural characteristic was also supported by the observation of five-membered cyclized radicals on ESR measurements of these monomers. Rotation around amide C? N bonds of these monomers and related compounds studied by ¹³C-NMR was found to be strongly dependent on N-substitutents. The mechanism of the cyclization was discussed in terms of the structure of the ring formed and rotation around amide C? N bonds of these monomers. The reactivity of the methacryloyl and allyl groups involved in these monomers were compared based on the information obtained by structural investigation of polymers and telomerization products and by ESR studies. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.