Syndiotactic‐specific radical polymerization of N,N‐dimethylacrylamide in the presence of tartrates: A proposed mechanism for the polymerization

Radical polymerization of N,N‐dimethylacrylamide (DMAAm) was investigated in the presence of tartrates, such as diethyl L ‐tartrate, diisopropyl L ‐tartrate, and di‐n‐butyl L ‐tartrate, in toluene at low temperatures. Syndiotactic polymers were obtained in the presence of tartrates, whereas isotactic polymers were obtained in the absence of tartrates. The syndiotactic‐specificity increased with increasing amount of tartrates and with decreasing polymerization temperature. NMR analysis suggested that DMAAm and tartrates formed a 1:1 complex through double hydrogen bonding. A mechanism for the syndiotactic‐specific radical polymerization of DMAAm is proposed. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 1192–1203, 2009