The spherical polymer nanoparticles of biobased renewable monomers, furfuryl alcohol (FA) and maleic anhydride (MAn), with diameters (Dn) in the range of 120 to 500 nm have been prepared by stabilizer-free dispersion copolymerization. In acetate or its mixture, the conversion of the monomers greatly depended on the concentration of AIBN. When the molar ratio of AIBN/monomers was 3.6% (wt), the monomer conversion could be as high as 80%. The aggregations of the solvated polymer chains formed the nuclei of the polymer particles. After the nucleation stage, both the monomer conversions and particle sizes increased steadily, while the coefficient of variation of the particle size decreased. The almost linear relationship between the Dn3 and the weight of polymer suggested that there is no significant secondary nucleation. The copolymer of FA and MAn could not dissolve in common organic solvents. Elemental analyses, FTIR and 13CP-MAS spectra showed that the copolymer was close to the alternative copolymer of FA and MAn irrespective to the molar ratios of FA/MAn in monomer feed. Furthermore, the two 2,5- and 3,4-dihydrofuran ring configurations exist in the copolymer and the later is the major one. The reaction of copolymer particles with triethylenetetramine confirmed the reactivity of the succinic anhydride groups at the surface of copolymer particles. (c) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012