In order to prepare copper selective chelating resin, beta-alanine functionality was introduced into polystyrene matrix by the aza-Michael addition of poly(4-aminostyrene) to acrylic acid. The resin was characterized by elemental analysis and pH potentiometric titration in terms of the degree of carboxyethylation (DS = 1.3) and protonation constant of the amine group (log K (H) = 7.48). The optimum pH for Cu2+ adsorption was found to be 7-8 (0.1 M ammonium acetate buffer) and the contact time required to achieve the equilibrium was about 1 h. The adsorption kinetics follows a pseudo-second order reaction rate, where the initial stage is governed by intraparticle diffusion. The adsorption isotherm data are in good agreement with the Langmuir model. The resin shows high adsorption capacity (1.26 mmol/g) and exhibits high selectivity toward Cu2+ ions with no affinity to Zn2+, Co2+, Cd2+ ions and only weak affinity to Ni2+ ions.