Hydrophilic homogeneous poly [2-(2-hydroxyethoxy)ethyl methacrylate-co-ethylene dimethacrylate] poly(DEGMA-co-EDMA) beads have been prepared as precursors for introducing the chelating groupings of ethylenediaminetriacetic acid, quinolin-8-ol, or N-(2-pyridylmethyl)glycine. The effect of the chelating ligand structure on coordination with Ni2+ ions and that of the metal complexes on binding the model protein (horseradish-peroxidase-specific immunoglobulin IgG(1)) was analyzed. It was found that the protein binding affinity and selectivity was the highest for IMA sorbents with quinolin-8-ol groups. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.