AbstractFive different multifunctional acrylic monomers (trimethylolpropane triacrylate, trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate, pentaerythritol triacrylate, pentaerythritol tetraacrylate, and dipentaerythritol pentaacrylate) were photopolymerized alone or in a matrix of linear poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) with 2,2‐dimethyl‐2‐hydroxyacetophenone as a photoinitiator. The course of photopolymerization was estimated with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The amount of insoluble gel formed during photopolymerization was determined gravimetrically. The crosslinked polymerization of pure monomers was much faster than that in the presence of PVC. However, the efficiency of the reaction was higher when it was carried out in a PVC blend because of the higher mobility of the propagating macroradicals. The influence of the monomer structure and functionality on the polymerization course was examined. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 3725–3734, 2002