AbstractItaconic acid, a carboxylated water‐soluble monomer, was examined in terms of its role in latex particle nucleation when copolymerized with acrylate monomers. From emulsion polymerizations in which the particle number concentrations were followed as a function of monomer conversion, it was found that the greater the amount of itaconic acid present, the larger the final latex particle diameter. This was interpreted as the result of the lower number of primary particles being initially nucleated. The above observations can be explained by the incorporation of the hydrophilic itaconic acid into acrylate oligomeric radicals that initially form. This incorporation increases the water‐solubility of the radicals such that a lower proportion of these radicals is likely to precipitate to form primary partic
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