Metal complexes of copolymers based on polyacrylic acid radiation grafted onto films of low density polyethene were prepared by complex-forming with solutions of salts of FeCl2 center dot 6H(2)O, CuCl2 center dot 2H(2)O, CoCl2 center dot 6H(2)O, NiCl2 center dot 6H(2)O, VOSO4 center dot 5H(2)O, Na2MoO4 center dot 2H(2)O, Na2WO(4)center dot 2H(2)O, and NH4VO3. The introduction of metal ions was found to depend mainly on the degree of grafting of acrylic acid and was from 0.5 to 5.0 mass%. These complexes were characterized by IR, UV spectroscopy, and EPR. The moisture content of the materials obtained changed linearly with the degree of grafting of acrylic acid and was from 9.0 to 80.0%. The introduction of the MoO22+ and WO22+ towards carboxylic groups lead to increasing the thermal stability of the metal complexes of the copolymers compared to the initial grafted films. The modified acrylate copolymers were studied in reactions of catalytic oxidation of cyclohexene. The activities of the complexes obtained towards cyclohexene epoxidation can be arranged in the following order: PAA-MoO22+ > PAA-VO2+ > PAA-VO2+ > PAAW WO22+, while for the reaction of cyclohexene hydroxylation the order was - PAA-Co2+ > PAA-Cu2+ > PAA-Fe3+ > PAA-Ni2+ The contents of cyclohexene oxide and 2-cyclohexene-1-ol reached 38.5% and 7.5%, respectively. (c) 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.