The photopolymerization of acrylamide (AA) initiated by the metallic complex tris(2,2Ј-bipyridine)ruthenium(II) [Ru(bpy) 3 ϩ2 ] in the presence of aliphatic and aromatic amines as co-initiators was investigated in aqueous solution. Aromatic amines, which are good quenchers of the emission of the metal-to-ligand-charge-transfer excited state of the complex, are more effective co-initiators than those that do not quench the luminescence of Ru(bpy) 3 ϩ2 , such as aliphatic amines and aniline. Laserflash photolysis experiments show the presence of the reduced form of the complex, Ru(bpy) 3 ϩ1 , for all the amines investigated. For aliphatic amines, the yield of Ru(bpy) 3 ϩ1 increases with temperature, and on the basis of these experiments, a metal-centered excited state is proposed as the reactive intermediate in the reaction with these amines. The decay of the transient Ru(bpy) 3 ϩ1 is faster in the presence of AA. This may be understood by an electron-transfer process from Ru(bpy) 3 ϩ1 to AA, regenerating Ru(bpy) 3 ϩ2 and producing the radical anion of AA. It is proposed that this radical anion protonates in a fast process to give the neutral AA radical, initiating in this way the polymerization chain.