Porous resins based on divinylbenzene (DVB) and methyl acrylate (MA) were prepared with inDVB (98.3%) or p-DVB (99.1%) in the presence of toluene as a porogen. The MA/DVB resins thus obtained with a wide range of pore structures were hydrophobic in nature and were swellable by direct contact with water. The behavior of m-DVB and p-DVB as a crosslinker in the MA/DVB monomer system was different from that in the styrene (ST)/DVB system and was influenced by the amount of MA in the MA/DVB monomer system. As a result, a larger specific surface area and pore volume were observed for MA/DVB resins derived from p-DVB than for those derived from m-DVB, which was opposite to that observed for resins based on DVB and ST. The different behaviors of m-DVB and p-DVB in the MA/DVB monomer system also resulted in different swelling abilities of the resins in water. Compared with the MA/DVB resins derived from m-DVB, the p-DVB derived resins swelled faster in water and were water-swellable when the resins had a higher DVB content and, therefore, a stronger hydrophobicity and a larger specific surface area. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.