The photoinitiated polymerization reaction of maleimide-vinyl ether and maleimide-allyl ether under visible light in the presence of several visible photoinitiating systems have been investigated. Remarkable high rates of polymerization with nearly 100% of conversions are obtained. Photoinitiator free polymerization of maleimide-allyl ether systems exhibits also a quite good efficiency, comparable to that of maleimide-vinyl ether. Photoinitiators working through hydrogen abstraction like camphorquinone were shown to be able to initiate very well the visible curing of maleimide-allyl ether. The curing of a maleimide-allyl or vinyl ether formulation can be achieved within 1 s in the presence of a 4-component photoinitiating system under low light intensity. The role of a large variety of photoinitiating systems and the mechanisms involved in the initiation step are discussed. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.