Tacticity control by conformational isomerization in free radical polymerization of acrylate

Contribution of conformational isomerization to polymer tacticity has been studied in free radical polymerization of (−)-menthyl 2-acetamidoacrylate with azo initiators. It has been demonstrated that the chain end of the growing polymer radical, which is generated from the s-trans and s-cis conformers of monomer, produces stereoselectively new R and S configurational quaternary carbons, respectively, for the attack of monomer. In addition, polymerization reactivity of both conformers is indistinguishable under the present conditions, and the polymerization is considered to proceed through a chain-end controlled mechanism, which excludes a penultimate unit effect on tacticity in the polymerization. The results obtained would give a clue to understand an origin of tacticity in conventional free radical polymerization of acrylates.