In aqueous solution, substantial differences have been described in the polymerization rate of non-ionized and fully ionized MAA (pH effect).

[6] Recent progress has been made for (partially) ionized MAA by introducing a new rate law for propagation where electrostatic and non-electrostatic effects are explicitly considered.

[7] In addition, the rate constant of propagation (kp) during free radical polymerization of methacrylic acid is dependent on the monomer concentration.

[11][12] The latter is not currently well understood but reasons hypothesized include ligand protonation at low pH, competitive coordination of carboxylate moieties to the copper and displacement of halide anions from the Cu(II) deactivator complex.

Protecting group chemistry is commonly used for the polymerization of acidic monomers (using alkyl esters),[13] followed by deprotection and purification, but other methods have also been explored.