Spontaneous proton-transfer copolymerization of 2-methyl-2-oxazoline with itaconic acid

Copolymerization of two monomers, 2-methyl-2-oxazoline (1) and itaconic acid (2) was carried out. The copolymerization proceeded spontaneously in 1:1 monomer feed ratio to give 2:1 copolymer 3. The mechanism for the production of such a 2:1 copolymer was explained by the in situ formation of monomer 5 from 1 and 2. Then, the propagation proceeded between 5 and 1 via zwitterionic intermediates. When the ratio of 1 in the feed was higher, the homopropagation of 1 took place.