The application of some polymeric type-I photoinitiators based on α-hydroxymethylbenzoin and α-hydroxymethylbenzoin methyl ether

Abstract Some polymeric photoinitiators based on α-hydroxymethylbenzoin and its methyl ether are used to initiate the polymerization of methyl methacrylate in solution and the crosslinking of an epoxyacrylate formulation in thin films. In general the polymeric photoinitiators perform better than corresponding low molecular weight model compounds. Moreover, it is found that polymeric photoinitiators based on α-hydroxymethylbenzoin methyl ether perform better than those based on α-hydroxymethylbenzoin. Explanations for these observations are advanced.