The polymerization of alpha -N-(alpha'-methylbenzyl) beta -ethyl itaconamate derived from racemic alpha -methylbenzylamine (RS-MBEI) by initiation with dimethyl 2,2'-azobisisobutyrate (MAIB) was studied in methanol kinetically and with ESR spectroscopy. The overall activation energy of polymerization was calculated to be 47 kJ/mol, a very low value. The polymerization rate (R-p) at 60 degreesC was expressed by R-p = k[MAIB](0.5+/-0.05)[RS-MBEI](2.9+/-0.1). The rate constants of propagation (k(p)) and termination (k(t)) were determined by ESR. k(p) was very low, ranging from 0.3 to 0.8 L/mol s, and increased with the monomer concentration, whereas k(t) (4-17 x 10(4) L/mol s) decreased with the monomer concentration. Such behaviors of k(p) and k(t) were responsible for the high dependence of R-p on the monomer concentration. R-p depended considerably on the solvent used. S-MBEI, derived from (S)-alpha -methylbenzylamine, showed somewhat lower homopolymerizability than RS-MBEI. The k(p) value of RS-MBEI at 60 degreesC in benzene was 1.5 times that of S-MBEI. This was explicable in terms of the different molecular associations of RS-MBEI and S-MBEI, as analyzed by H-1 NMR.