Methods to detect metal ions at the ppm level and below are valuable for monitoring environmental contamination. Using polymers containing metal ion-receptor ligands and various fluorophores, we seek to develop novel metal ion sensors. This poster presents the synthesis of polydentate ligands to serve as receptors to detect Cu2+ and Pb2+. Synthesis of a N,N-diacetato-N'-acryloyl-1,3-phenylenediamine ligand is currently in progress. An early, unsuccessful synthetic route involved 1,3-phenylenediamine as a starting material as well as protection and deprotection steps of an amino group, whereas the synthetic pathway currently being utilized involves 3-nitroaniline as the starting material eliminating the need for protective synthetic steps. An acryloyl-iminodiacetate-di-tert-butyl ester has been synthesized by combing acryloyl chloride with the same iminodiacetate (IDA) ester used in the N,N-diacetato-N'-acryloyl-1,3-phenylenediamine ligand to produce a ligand that can be polymerized. The acryloyl-iminodiacetate-di-tert-butyl ester ligand's structure was verified by NMR spectroscopy; its metal binding ability is currently being investigated.