Title: acrylic polymer
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - acrylic polymer
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.15244
Status: current

Definition
Polymer prepared from acrylic acid or a derivative of acrylic acid.

Notes
1) An acrylic polymer formed from methacrylic acid and related monomers is often referred to as a methacrylic polymer or a polymethacrylic or a methacrylate polymer. Methacrylic polymers are a subclass of acrylic polymers.
2) The macromolecule of a regular acrylic homopolymer can be described by a constitutional repeating unit of general formula: \(\ce{-CR(X)-CH2\bond{-}}\), where \(\ce{R}\) is \(\ce{COOH}\), \(\ce{COOR^1}\), \(\ce{CN}\), or \(\ce{CONR^1R^2}\) and \(\ce{X}\) is \(\ce{H}\), alkyl, aryl, heteroaryl, or \(\ce{CN}\).

Example
Derivatives of acrylic acid are esters, amides, nitriles, chlorides, and aldehydes. 

Source
- PAC, 2009, 81, 1131. 'Glossary of class names of polymers based on chemical structure and molecular architecture (IUPAC Recommendations 2009)' on page 1134 (https://doi.org/10.1351/PAC-REC-08-01-30)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/15244/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/15244/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/15244/xml

Citation: Citation: 'acrylic polymer' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.15244
License: The IUPAC Gold Book is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike CC BY-SA 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) for individual terms.
Collection: If you are interested in licensing the Gold Book for commercial use, please contact the IUPAC Executive Director at executivedirector@iupac.org .
Disclaimer: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is continuously reviewing and, where needed, updating terms in the Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the IUPAC Gold Book). Users of these terms are encouraged to include the version of a term with its use and to check regularly for updates to term definitions that you are using.
Accessed: 2026-04-20T11:54:27+00:00