To develop a renewable and compatible anticoagulant as potential heparin alternative, carboxymethyl starch sulfate (CMSS) was prepared by the reaction of carboxymethyl starch (CMS) and sulfating reagent [N(SO3Na)3]. The chemical structures of CMS and CMSS were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance. The influences of reaction parameters, including the pH of sulfating reagent, the molar ratio of sulfating reagent to CMS, reaction time, and temperature on the degree of substitution of sulfate groups (DS) of CMSS were studied. Meantime, the DS of each CMSS was determined by barium sulfateglutin nephelometery method. Moreover, the anticoagulant activity of CMSS was investigated by the coagulation assays of activated partial thromboplastin time, thrombin time, and prothrombin time. The results revealed that the anticoagulant activity of CMSS was closely related to the DS value and concentration. The anticoagulant activity was promoted with the increasing of the DS and concentration. The molecular weight (Mw) in measured range had little impact on anticoagulant activity in contract to the DS and concentration. In this article, the CMSS with the DS of 1.91, concentration of 75 mu g/mL and the Mw of 2.61 x 104 had the best blood anticoagulant activities. (c) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013