The effect of aromatic amines on the photopolymerization of 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate

The ability of aromatic amines to accelerate the photoinitiated polymerization of multifunctional acrylates in the presence of oxygen is shown to be dependent on the structure of the amine. For N, N-dimethylaniline, a rapid oxygen-scavenging process which proceeds by a radical-chain mechanism accounts for the large polymerization rate increase. Conversely, aniline cannot sustain an oxygen-scavenging process and inhibits the polymerization of air-saturated monomers. In general, the degree of rate enhancement and/or inhibition of the aromatic amines investigated is subject to the amine concentration.