Boris Smirnov and Alexander Marchenko (USSR) discovered in 1975 that cobalt porphyrins are able to reduce the molecular weight of PMMA formed during radical polymerization of methacrylates. Later investigations showed that the cobalt dimethylglyoxime complexes were as effective as the porphyrin catalysts and also less oxygen sensitive. Due to their lower oxygen sensitivity these catalysts have been investigated much more thoroughly than the porphyrin catalysts and are the catalysts actually used commercially.