A simple and efficient method for the synthesis of lactose-based homopolymers from N-lactosyl-N＇-(4-vinylbenzyl)urea or N＇-lactosyl-N,N-methyl(4-vinylbenzyl)urea (5a, 5b) is described. Free radical polymerization of these new urea monomers proceeded smoothly in an aqueous solution using potassium persulfate (KPS) and N,N,N＇,N＇-tetramethylethylenediamine (TMEDA) as the initiating system and gave water-soluble homopolymers in good yields. These synthetic lactose-based polymers had molecular weights that ranged from 1.9 x 10(3) to 5.3 x 10(6) and low molecular weight polydispersities (M-w/M-n) (1.02-1.77) as determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). Thermal stability studies showed that these homopolymers had two-stage degradations related to the lactose moiety and the polystyrene main chain as well as similar T-g＇s (6a at 134 degrees C, 6b at 133 degrees C) as determined by DSC, suggesting that the urea linkage increases the T-g by hydrogen bonding. The present synthetic method is useful for the introduction of biologically important amino sugars into glycopolymers through a urea linkage.