Visible light induced polymerization of maleimide–vinyl and maleimide–allyl ether based systems

The photoinitiated polymerization reaction of maleimide–vinyl ether and maleimide–allyl ether under visible light in the presence of several visible photoinitiating systems have been investigated. Remarkable high rates of polymerization with nearly 100% of conversions are obtained. Photoinitiator free polymerization of maleimide–allyl ether systems exhibits also a quite good efficiency, comparable to that of maleimide–vinyl ether. Photoinitiators working through hydrogen abstraction like camphorquinone were shown to be able to initiate very well the visible curing of maleimide–allyl ether. The curing of a maleimide–allyl or vinyl ether formulation can be achieved within 1 s in the presence of a 4-component photoinitiating system under low light intensity. The role of a large variety of photoinitiating systems and the mechanisms involved in the initiation step are discussed.