Norbornene monomers bearing two and three amino acid residues have been synthesized and the ring-opening metathesis polymerization of the monomers investigated using Mo(=CHCMe2Ph)(=N-2,6-(Pr2C6H3)-C-i)(OR)(2), [R = CMe3 1a, CMe2CF3 1b, CMe(CF3)(2) 1c].