Abstract: The optically active polymers of (-) menthyl methacrylate were obtained by anionic, group transfer polymerization(GTP) and radical polymerization methods. The influences of different polymerization methods on specific rotation, yield and stereoregularity of polymers were studied. In the fluorene lithium and (S,S) (+)₂,3 dimethoxy 1,4 bis(dimethylamino)butane complex initiative system, the specific rotation values rise slightly with the increase of molecular weight. There is no obvious difference in the specific rotation values of PMnMAs obtained by different polymerization methods, but there is an obvious variation in stereoregularity of the polymers. And the change of the optical activity of PMnMA is slight as compared with the variation of the stereoregularity. The tacticity of polymers is mainly syndiotactic.

Key words: Optically active polymer, Menthyl methacrylate, Anionic polymerization, Group transfer polymerization, Radical polymerization (Ed.: Y, Z)