Commercial polymeric structures which have pendant nitrile groups include fibers made from polyacrylonitrile sold by Dupont under the trademark "Orlon," and fibers made from copolymers of acrylonitrile with various other vinyl monomers which are not disclosed to the public, such as "Verel" and "Dow 507," made by Dow Chemical Company, and "Acrilan," made by Monsanto.
Though these fabrics have many outstanding properties which have made them very successful commercially, they are nevertheless lacking in some respects. "Orlon," for example, will burn when ignited and "Verel," though fire retardant, is difficult to iron due to its low melting point.
Efforts have been made to modify powdered polyacrylonitrile in solution, but then the modified polyacrylonitrile cannot be made into a fiber because its melting point is now at or close to its decomposition temperature. Efforts to produce a vinyl triazine monomer which could then be polymerized to produce a modified polyacrylonitrile have been unsuccessful due to side reactions which prevent the formation of the monomer.