the method contemplated for preparing the novel compounds of this invention basically involves acylating a β - substituted aminopropionate with either acrylyl chloride or methacrylyl chloride . the β - substituted aminopropionates useful for deriving the foregoing compounds are those wherein said substituent is either an alkyl , alkenyl , aryl , aralkyl or cyclohydrocarbyl radical . these aminopropionates can be readily obtained through a michael type addition reaction whereby an acrylate or methacrylate is reacted with a primary monoamine . as indicated , the hydrocarbyl moiety of the applicable primary amines can be either alkyl , alkenyl , aryl , aralkyl or cyclohydrocarbyl . an exemplary enumeration of suitable primary amines for obtaining the michael addition type product is , e . g ., heptyl amine , lauryl amine , allyl amine , methallyl amine , phenylallyl amine , cyclohexyl amine , toluidine , β - phenylethylamine , aniline , naphthyl amine , benzyl amine and the like . the michael type addition reaction can be readily accomplished by combining approximately stoichiometric amounts of the amine and the acrylate . the reaction is desirably carried out in a suitable solvent , generally a polar solvent , particularly representative of which are the lower alkanols , e . g ., methanol . reaction temperature suitable for this purpose range from room temperature to about the reflux temperature of the solvent utilized . like the acylation reaction , the michael type addition procedure is well understood by those skilled in the art . further details relative to these reactions , however , are embodied in the examples provided herein . accordingly , in order to illustrate the best mode contemplated for carrying out the present invention , as well as a manner for using the novel compounds to which the invention is directed , the following working examples are set forth . as indicated , these examples are given primarily by way of illustration and therefore any enumeration of details contained therein is not necessarily to be construed as a limitation on the invention . the only limitations intended are those expressed in the appended claims . all parts are parts by weight unless otherwise indicated . into a suitable reaction vessel equipped with a thermometer , stirrer and reflux condenser were charged 114 parts of allyl amine and 162 parts of methanol . to the amine solution were slowly added 175 parts of methylcrylate and the reaction mixture allowed to stir for two hours . the mixture was then held at room temperature without stirring for two days . thereafter the methanol was removed at 50 ° c . under a partial vacuum . the recovered product was distilled in vacuo to provide a fraction consisting of 99 . 4 % pure β - allyl aminopropionate having a boiling point of 37 ° c . at 0 . 03 mm hg . into a suitable reaction vessel equipped as above were charged 71 . 6 parts of the β - allyl aminopropionate , 51 parts of triethyl amine and 175 parts of benzene . the vessel &# 39 ; s contents were cooled to - 10 ° c . whereupon , 57 . 5 parts of methacrylyl chloride were added slowly while maintaining the reaction temperature at about 10 ° c . upon the addition of the acid chloride ( 1 . 5 hours ) the reaction mixture was stirred overnight at room temperature . the reaction mixture was stripped on a flash evaporator to provide a crude yield in the amount of 97 . 3 parts . the crude product was distilled yielding 60 parts of a mid - cut fraction having a boiling point of 95 ° c ./ 0 . 26 mm hg . purity of the product as determined by glc was 97 . 8 %. into a suitable reaction vessel equipped with a thermometer , stirrer , dropping funnel and condenser were charged 290 parts of diethyl ether , 71 parts of triethylamine and 111 parts of methyl 3 - cyclohexylaminopropionate . the latter ester was prepared by reacting approximately stoichiometric amounts of methyl acrylate and cyclohexyl amine following the general procedure described in example i . the ether solution of the ester and amine was cooled to - 10 ° c . and 65 parts of methacrylyl chloride were added slowly while keeping the temperature below about 15 ° c . stirring was continued for one hour at room temperature following the addition of the acid chloride . filtration and subsequent evaporation of the ether afforded 140 parts ( 93 %) yield of crude product . the crude product was distilled into middle cut , 142 ° c ./ 0 . 2 mm , which was collected in a yield of about 100 parts . the distilled product as determined by glc was 98 . 2 % pure . the ir spectrum of the purified product showed absorption bands at 1735 , 1645 and 1620 cm - 1 . the nmr spectrum integrated correctly for the expected product . anal . calcd . for c 14 h 23 no 3 c , 66 . 40 ; h , 9 . 09 ; n , 5 . 53 . found : c , 65 . 90 ; h , 9 . 01 ; n , 5 . 51 . following the procedure outlined in example ii , 89 . 9 parts of methyl 3 - anilinopropionate were treated with 49 . 5 parts of methacylyl chloride . the distilled product , b . p . 130 ° c ./ 0 . 06 mm , was collected in a 83 % yield . the ir , nmr and elemental analyses supported the structure of the expected product . using the same procedure employed for the preparation of the compounds of examples ii and iii , 79 . 5 parts of methyl 3 - butylaminopropionate were treated with 52 . 7 parts of methacrylyl chloride in ether to obtain a good yield of crude product . the crude product was purified by distillation , b . p . 101 °- 103 ° c ./ 0 . 04 mm , and ir , nmr and elemental analyses confirmed the structure of the expected product . methyl 3 - cyclohexylaminopropionate in the amount of 92 . 5 parts were treated with 45 . 2 parts of acrylyl chloride in ether according to procedures used above . the crude material , 95 parts , was distilled , 148 ° c ./ 0 . 2 mm , to give an 80 parts yield of purified product . ir , nmr and elemental analyses confirmed the structure of the expected product . the monomer of example ii in the amount of 5 parts and 5 parts of methyacrylate were combined with 0 . 15 part of aziobisisobutyronitrile ( aibn ) and 18 parts of benzene and heated under nitrogen atmosphere for 16 hours at 70 ° c . the viscous polymer solution was poured into stirred methanol to precipitate the polymer . the precipitate was collected , washed with methanol and dried to yield 7 . 5 parts of polymer . the isolated copolymer had an inherent viscosity of 0 . 32 ( 0 . 5 g / 100 ml chcl 3 at 25 ° c .) and exhibited good film forming properties . the ir spectrum of the polymer showed two carbonyl bands at 1730 ( ester ) and 1640 ( amide ) cm - 1 . elemental , differential thermal and thermogravimetric analyses also indicated the polymer to be poly ( methyl methacrylate - co - methyl 3 ( n - cyclohexyl - n - methacrylyl ) amino propionate ). methyl methacrylate , 18 parts , the monomer of example v , 4 . 78 parts , and 0 . 23 parts of aibn were combined with 20 parts of methyl ethyl ketone and heated under nitrogen for 16 hours at 70 ° c . the polymer was isolated as in the previous example and dried to give a quantitative yield of copolymer having an inherent viscosity of 0 . 28 ( 0 . 5 g / 100 ml chcl 3 at 25 ° c .). the ir spectrum of the polymer , which was a good film former , exhibited ester and amide carbonyl bands at 1730 and 1645 cm - 1 respectively . nitrogen determination ( found : 1 . 6 %; theory 1 . 23 %), dta andtga studies confirmed the polymer to be poly ( methyl methacrylate - co - methyl 3 ( n - acrylyl - n - cyclohexyl ) amino propionate ).