ABSTRACT:New vinyl aromatic compound polymers containing 2-chloroacetamidomethyl groups have been prepared from the corresponding polymers by amidomethylation with N-methylol-2-chloroacetamide (NMCA). The reaction proceeds in nitrobenzene or nitropropane in the presence of sulfuric acid as catalyst at temperature of 10 to 25• C.When 1.1 molar or less than 0.3 molar of NMCA to a molar of polystyrene is used, a soluble polymer is obtained. From poly(4-methylstyrene) or poly(4-tert-butylstyrene), soluble polymers containing 2-chloro-acetamidomethyl group are also obtained by the same reaction. 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, FT-IR spectroscopy, and elemental analysis identifies the structures. These polymers are soluble in DMF or chloroform. In the case of poly(4-methylstyrene), NMR analysis shows that meta substituted product is exclusively obtained, although there are two possibilities of ortho-and meta-substituted products.KEY WORDS N-Methylol-2-chloroacetamide / Amidomethylation Reaction / Polystyrene / Poly(4-methylstyrene) / Poly(4-tert-butylstyrene) / 2-Chloro-acetamidomethyl Group / Since polystyrene is one of the most popular plastics, many chemical modifications of polystyrene, e.g., sulfonation, 1 acylation, 2 nitration, 3 and chloromethylation, 4 have been reported. Amidomethylation of styrene-divinylbenzene beads with N-methylol phthalimide was studied by Merrifield to obtain the aminomethylated beads. 5 On the other hand we developed the amidomethylation of polystyrene fibers 6 and dishes 7 using NMCA as amidomethylating reagent, by which the benzene ring of the polystyrene was quantitatively substituted by a chloroacetamidomethyl group that was easily converted into various functional groups. 8 The amidomethylation reaction could be performed at the temperature below 25 • C in a short time. Moreover, the preparation and the handling of NMCA were easy, because NMCA was liable to crystallize, and the crystal was nonhygroscopic. The replacement of the chlorine with amino compounds proceeded readily under mild condition. Thus, polymyxin B was immobilized on the chloroacetamidomethylated fiber, and the resulting fiber had an endotoxin adsorbing capacity. The fibers were packed in column for hemoperfusion, and used for the treatment against sepsis shock. 9