<p>Polymerization processes involving metal complexes of unsaturated acids are distinguished by their own characteristics, which arise from the influence of metal ions on the growing macroradical. In this study, effect of chelating ligand 4′-phenyl-2,2′:6′,2″-terpyridine on the kinetics of formation of a copolymer of acrylic acid, acrylamide and copper acrylate was investigated. The incorporation of copper acrylate has been demonstrated to curtail both the polymerization rate and conversion (conversion &lt; 5%). This phenomenon is presumably attributable to side reactions in which active radicals are dead via electron transfer to the metal complex. The alteration of the ligand environment of copper acrylate by introducing the chelating ligand PhTpy has been manifested to promote the alignment of these side reactions, which leads to almost 100% conversion rate. The influence of the nature of the metal ion on the activation energy of the double bond opening is also an important factor. In this regard, this paper also provides a study of solid-phase polymerization of acrylate metal complexes of phenylterpyridine. The calculated values of the activation energy of solid-phase polymerization of phenylterpyridine acrylate metal complexes range from 99 to 324&#xa0;kJ/mol per series Co²⁺ &lt; Ni²⁺ &lt; Cu²⁺ &gt; Zn²⁺ and correspond to the stability of the complexes according to the Irving-Williams series.</p> Graphical abstract <p></p>