1,3-Dioxane methylcoumarin (DOMC), a novel photoinitiator (PI) for free radical polymerization, was synthesized and characterized. UVvis absorption spectroscopy was used to investigate its photochemical behavior during the photophysical process. The photopolymerization kinetics of DOMC was studied by real-time infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). There was an optimum curing rate with the increase in DOMC concentration. Both the polymerization rate and final conversion increased with the increase in light intensity. DOMC was the most efficient PI for tripropylene glycol diacrylate (TPGDA) in different acrylate monomers. The kinetics study of TPGDA photopolymerization showed that DOMC was a more effective PI than benzophenone/ethyl-4-dimethylaminobenzoate. (c) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012