Novel monomers and polymers

A compound of formula (I)

• where
• each R is independently halogen, OH, NO2, C1-C4-alkyl, C1C4-alkoxy, CONH2, NH—CHO, NH—C1C4-alkyl, or NH—(C═O)—C1-C4-alkyl;
• k is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4;
• R1 is hydrogen or C1-C4-alkyl;
• R2 is hydrogen or C1-C40-hydrocarbyl;
• each R3 is independently hydrogen or C1-C2-alkyl;
• a is from 0 to 1500;
• b is from 0 to 1500;
• and
• c is from 0 to 750,
• wherein a+b+c is from 2 to 1500;
• and
• the “a” repeating units [—O—CH2—CH(R3)—], the “b” repeating units [—O—CH(R3)—CH2—] and the “c” repeating units [—O—CH2CH2CH2CH2—] are distributed statistically or form a gradient or a block structure.