“…Recently, Bamford, et al 4 suggested the possibility of synthesizing an a-polypeptide by the hydrogen-migration polymerization of @substituted acrylamides. In their method, as shown in scheme (I), initial addition of a monomer anion to the carbon atom carrying an amide group of the double bond in a monomer or a higher oligomer, which is facilitated by a strongly electron-withdrawing substituent (X), and a subsequent proton transfer reaction are essential to obtain an a-polypeptide.…”