The transition polymerization of acrylamide. Part II.1. On the reaction mechanism

The reaction mechanism of the transition polymerization of acrylamide to poly‐β‐alanine has been studied. The initial reaction occurs by the addition of the base to acrylamide as follows; where ROMe means alkali metal alkoxide. It is a first order reaction with the activation energy of 9.3 kcal./mole. The infrared analysis of the polymer supports to mechanism. The propagation of the chain occurs by an addition of acrylamide at the anionic amide part of the chain.