Water-soluble or water-swellable copolymers containing sulfonic groups and methods of preparation

Water-soluble or water-swellable copolymers with sulfonic groups, containing

• a) 3 to 96 mol. % of structural components having the formula I
• where
• R1=hydrogen or methyl,
• R2, R3, R4, independently of one another, are each hydrogen,
• an aliphatic hydrocarbon radical with 1 to 6 C atoms, or an aryl radical with 6 to 14 C atoms, which may be substituted with C1-C6 alkyl groups,
• M=hydrogen, a mono- or bivalent metal cation, ammonium and/or an organic amino radical, and
• a=½ or 1,
• b) 3 to 96 mol. % of structural components having the formula IIa or IIb
• where R5 and R6, independently of one another, are each hydrogen, an aliphatic hydrocarbon radical which may be substituted and has 1-20 C atoms, an alicylic hydrocarbon radical which may be substituted and has 5 to 8 C atoms, or an aryl radical which may be substituted and has 6 to 14 C atoms, and
• Q=hydrogen or —CHR5R7, and where Q≠H,
• R5 and R6 in IIb together form a —CH2—(CH2)y-methylene group in which y=1 to 4,
• R7=hydrogen, an aliphatic hydrocarbon radical with 1 to 4 C atoms, —COOH or —COOMa, and
• R1, M and a have the meanings already given,
• c) 0.05 to 75 mol. % of structural components having the formula III
• where
• Y=O, NH or NR5
• R8=R5 or R6,
• X=anion, especially halide, C1 to C4-alkyl sulfate or C1 to C4-alkyl sulfonate,
• x=1 to 6, and
• R1, R5 and R6 have the meanings already given,
• d) 0.01 to 50 mol % of structural components having the formula IV
• where
• Z=—COO(CmH2mO)n—R5 or —(CH2)p—O(CmH2mO)n—
• R5,
• m=2 to 4,
• n=0 to 200
• p=0 to 20, and
• R1 has the meaning already given.