Syndiotactic poly(methyl methacrylate) was utilized to gain a template effect and achieve stereospecific radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate. The random coil-helix transformation of syndiotactic poly(methyl methacrylate) in methyl methacrylate was observed and the physical gelation behavior was investigated. Also, the helices of syndiotactic poly(methyl methacrylate) in methyl methacrylate have a significant effect on the template radical polymerization of methyl methacrylate. The concentration of the template polymer as well as the conversion strongly affected the template effect. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.