Octene (OC) and tetradecene (TD) monomers were copolymerized with maleic anhydride (MA) with a low conversion (< 10% conversion) to determine their reactivity ratios. The monomers were copolymerized with different molar percentages of MA and OC or TD (90/10, 70/30, 50/50, and 10/90) with benzoyl peroxide as an initiator to produce MA/alpha-olefin copolymers of different compositions. Fourier transform infrared was used to determine the copolymer compositions. The monomer reactivity ratios of the MA/OC and MA/TD copolymers were determined with the Fineman-Ross and Kelen-Tudos methods. Crosslinked MA/TD and MA/OC (50 : 50 mol/mol) copolymers were prepared by the condensation of the prepared linear copolymers with different glycols. The crosslinked copolymers were evaluated for oil absorbency applications. The effects of the glycol type, composition, crosslinker weight percentage, and type of oil on the swelling properties of the crosslinked polymers were studied with oil absorption tests. The swelling parameters, such as the maximum oil absorbency, characteristic oil absorbency, characteristic swelling time, and swelling rate constant, were evaluated for the synthesized sorbers. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.