Copolymerization of N-Substituted Maleisoimides with Vinyl Acetate

N-Substituted maleisoimides have been polymerized [1,2] and copolymerized with readily polymerizable vinylic monomers, such as acrylonitrile and vinyl acetate [3]. However, the homopolymerization or copolymerization of N-substituted maleisoimides is not reported in the literature. Attempts to homopolymerize N-substituted maleisoimides free radically have failed completely 141. During such attempts, however, none of the maleisoimides used suffered isomerization to the corresponding imides. This paper reports the free-radical copolymerization of three N-substituted maleisoimides with vinyl acetate.