Radiation‐induced solid‐state polymerization of a homologous series of N‐tert‐alkylacrylamides

A study on the solid‐state polymerization of an homologous series of N‐tert‐alkylacrylamides under the action of γ‐radiation was carried out. More than twenty monomers of this series have been prepared starting from N‐sec‐isopropylacrylamide and N‐tert‐butylacrylamide to N‐tert‐tetradecylacrylamide. Some N‐arylacrylamides and N‐arylmethacrylamides were included also. For comparison the polymerization in solution of the same series of monomers induced by radiation as well as by chemical initiators was investigated. Results obtained for the series of N‐tert‐heptylacrylamides and N‐tert‐hexylacrylamides were discussed in more detail. An interesting coincidence between the reactivity of the particular isomers in the solid state and in solution was observed also for the radiation‐induced as well as chemically initiated polymerization. The comparison of melting points of both isomers series with their reactivity in the solid state shows that, in general, higher polymerization rates correspond to lower melting temperatures. The role of the symmetry and the structure of the homologous substituents on the polymerization rate was observed.