Water soluble polymers and process for their manufacture

Die Erfindung betrifft wasserlösliche Polymere bzw. deren Salze. Diese sind erhältlich durch Umsetzung von Polyacrylnitril oder Polyacrylnitrilcopolymerisaten und Acrylsäurederivaten mit Polyaminen mit Hilfe schwefelhaltiger Katalysatoren in Gegenwart eines Alkohols oder Polyols. 1. Process for the production of water-soluble polymers or of their salts by reaction of polyacrylonitrile or polyacrylonitrile co-polymers of at least 20 mole % acrylonitrile and up to 80 mole % acrylic acid, of an acrylic acid derivative or of a copolymerisable vinyl compound with one or more polyamides in the presence of a sulphur-containing catalyst at temperatures of 100-1808C, characterized in that one carries out the reaction in the presence of an alcohol or polyol with a boiling point of over 958C and subsequently treats the reaction product with water or a mixture of water and an organic solvent miscible with water at temperatures of 70-1008C, preferably 80-908C, and the polyamide is added in an amount of 0.6-3.0, preferably 1-2 mole equivalents, referred to the nitrile groups of the polyacrylonitrile.