Chain-growth polycondensation of 3-(alkylamino)benzoic acid alkyl esters 1 was investigated for obtaining poly(m-benzamide)s with defined molecular weights and low polydispersities. Polymerization conditions were first studied to find that ethyl 3-(octylamino)benzoate (1b) polymerized in a chain polymerization manner in the presence of lithium 1,1,1,3,3,3-hexamethyldisilazide (LiHMDS) as a base and phenyl 4-methylbenzoate (2b) as an initiator in THF at 0 8C. The molecular weight of the polymer was controlled by the feed ratio of monomer to initiator. The polymerization of 1c-i with a variety of N-alkyl groups was then carried out under the established conditions to yield well-defined poly(m-benzamide)s, which showed higher solubility than those of the corresponding poly(p-benzamide)s. Furthermore, the 4-octyloxybenzyl group on the amide nitrogen in poly1i was removed by treatment with trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) to give N-unsubstituted poly(m-benzamide) (poly1j) with a low polydispersity, which is soluble in DMAc and DMSO, contrary to the para-substituted counterpart. V V C 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 4990-5003, 2006The methyl ester monomer 1a was first polymerized with various bases in the presence of Scheme 1. Inductive effect-assisted chain-growth polycondensation of 1.POLY(m-BENZAMIDE)S WITH LOW POLYDISPERSITIES