Linear waterborne poly(ethyl acrylate-urethane)s (PEA-Us) were synthesized by reacting a poly (ethyl acrylate) diol (HO-PEA-OH) with isophorone diisocyanate (IPDI) and 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl) propionic acid (DMPA). The poly(ethyl acrylate) (HO-PEA-Br) was prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization of ethyl acrylate with a designed molecular weight (Mn) of about 2000 and the hydroxyl (OH) end capped poly(ethyl acrylate) (HO-PEA-OH) was obtained by substituting the bromo end group with N-ethanol methyl amine. The HO-PEA-OH of Mn 2000 with OH functionality of about 1.92 and the linear waterborne PEA-U with Mn of about 13,300 were obtained and characterized by hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR), gel permeation chromatography, thermo gravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. When the ratio of isocyanate to hydroxyl group (NCO/OH) was 1.4 and DMPA was 5 wt %, the waterborne PEA-U was a tough material with a tensile strength of 4.9 MPa, elastic modulus of 31.9 N/mm2 and elongation at break of about 286%, which showed its potential applications in many fields. (C) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012