AbstractThe free‐radical terpolymerization of maleic anhydride, styrene, and acrylic monomers such as acrylonitrile, methyl acrylate and methyl methacrylate was studied. The alternating copolymerization of maleic anhydride with styrene was found to be favored in those systems. Contrary to theoretical predictions, maleic anhydride is more reactive than styrene in ternary systems. The relative reactivity of the acrylic monomers studied was found to decrease in the order: methyl methacrylate ≥ methyl acrylate>acrylonitrile. In the presence of a Lewis acid, such as ZnCl2or C2H5AlCl2, the relative reactivity of acrylic monomers increases and at the respective complexing agent concentration the copropagation of the acrylic monomer with styrene can dominate. On the basis of the results obtained, some aspects of the mechanism of alternating propagation in systems comprising an electron‐donor monomer and two electron‐acceptor monomers are di