Amide-linked N-methacryloyl sucrose containing polymers

•Three novel N-methacryloylamide sucrose-containing monomers have been synthesized.•Polymer materials with pendant sucrose moieties have been obtained by a free radical process.•Characterization of the polymers by NMR, MALDI-TOF, DSC and AFM has been provided.•AFM images showed self-assembly in solutions into nanoparticles.•Equilibrium water content measurements showed superabsorbent polymer.

1′,2,3,3′,4,4′,6-Hepta-O-benzyl-6′-N-methacryloyl-6′-deoxysucrose 1, 6′-deoxy-6′-N-methacryloyloxyethylureido sucrose 2 and 6,6′-dideoxy-6,6′-N-dimethacryloyloxyethylureido sucrose 3 have been homo-polymerized and copolymerized with styrene by a free radical process, yielding polymer materials with pendant sucrose moieties, attached to the polymer backbone via amide linkages. The results demonstrated that varying the structural features of the monomers, greatly affected the thermal and rheological properties of the polymers. The polymer materials obtained have been characterized by NMR, MALDI-TOF, DSC, AFM and EWC (equilibrium water content). The efficient synthesis of the three novel, regioisomerically pure, N-methacryloylamide sucrose-containing monomers (1, 2 and 3) have been described.