Functional monomers and polymers. XXXXI. Template polymerization of methacryloyl‐type monomers containing nucleic acid bases

Abstract

AbstractIn due consideration of the specific base–base interaction that exists between nucleic acid molecules, the free radical polymerization of N‐β‐methacryloyloxyethyl derivatives of adenine, thymine, and theophylline initiated by azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) was studied in the presence of N‐β‐methacryloyloxyethyl‐type polymers which have complementary nucleic acid bases as template polymers. The rate of polymerization of N‐β‐methacryloyloxyethyladenine was accelerated when poly(N‐β‐methacryloyloxyethyluracil) or ‐thymine was present in the polymerization system. The effect of the stereoregularity of the template polymers, as well as polymerization temperature and the sort of solvents used on the rate of polymerization, was studied and discussed in some detail. The results suggest that the interaction between complementary bases plays a role in template polymerization behavior.