Dithiocarbamate function was incorporated on to polyacrylamide backbone by direct reaction of amide group with carbon disulphide in presence of sodium hydroxide. Metal complexes of polyacrylamide are also prepared and studied metal ion intake according to Mathew and Pillai calculation method. The resulting polymer supported ligand was characterized by IR, H-1 NMR, C-13 NMR spectroscopy and found to be very efficient for metal ion extraction. (C) 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.