Polymerizability and related problems in the anionic polymerization of lactams

The anionic polymerization of lactams at low temperatures is not governed by thermodynamic equilibrium between the cyclic monomer and the linear polymer. On the basis of our reaction mechanism we propose therefore a new criterion (in contrast to the thermodynamic one) for estimating the chemical polymerizability of lactam: k_endo/k_lactam, where k_lactam is the rate constant of alkaline hydrolysis of the lactam and k_endo that of the endocyclic imide bond in the corresponding N-acyl lactam. The value thus found for α-piperidone and giving the theoretical polymerizability of this lactam accounts, however, only partially for its low polymerizability. Finally, the behavior of α-piperidone derivatives in α-pyrrolidone polymerization, as well as that of α-pyrrolidone and α-piperidone in polymerization in the presence of inorganic salts such as LiCl and LiSCN, shows that the unusually low ability of this lactam to polymerize could be explained in terms of the hydrogen-bond-rich structure of the resulting polymer appearing at a lower stage of conversion than that of other lactams and which might encage the active site situated at the end of the growing chain and thus hinder the access of lactam anion.