Abstract: Triphenylmethyl acrylate and diphenyl-o-tolylmethyl acrylate were synthesized for the first time. Optically active polymers with one-handed helical conformations can be obtained through asymmetric polymerization of the above two monomers in the presence of chiral ligands. Compared with poly(triphenylmethyl methacrylate), both poly(triphenylmethyl acrylate) and poly(diphenyl-o-tolylmethyl acrylate) showed lower specific rotations due to the absence of methyl group at the a position of the double bonds.

Key words: triphenylmethyl acrylate, diphenyl-o-tolylmethyl acrylate, asymmetric polymerization, one-handed helical conformation