The radical polymerization of a series of fumaramides and fumaramates, prepared from the reaction of various amines with fumaroyl dichloride and fumaric chloride isopropyl ester, respectively, was investigated. Although the polymerization reactivity of the N,N,N',N'-tetrasubstituted fumaramides and N,N-disubstituted fumaramates was low, N-isopropyl fumaramate readily furnished the corresponding high molecular weight polymer. The highest number average molecular weight (M-n) of 15,400 was obtained from the emulsifier-free emulsion polymerization in the presence of VA-086 as the initiator. The decomposition temperature of the obtained polymer was determined to be 299 degrees C. The pi-A isotherm of the polymer indicated the formation of stable Langmuir monolayers with a limiting molecular area (per macromolecular repeating unit) of ca. 26 angstrom(2).