Hydrogen Bonding and Rate Enhancement in Photoinduced Polymerization of Monofunctional Hydrogen Bonding Acrylates

 The relationship between the rate of photopolymerization, degree of hydrogen bonding in acrylates and methacylates have been investigated. The rates of polymerization for hydrogen bonding of acrylates are significantly higher than those observed for typical monofunctional alkyl-acrylate monomers and comparable to multifunctional monomers. By polymerizing at various elevated temperatures, it was shown that the enhanced rates are directly proportional to the degree of hydrogen bonding. Apparently, termination rates are greatly reduced by hydrogen bonding, which is present in both the unpolymerized monomer and in the final polymer film.