reaction is deemed complete the esterification catalyst may be neutralized if desired and if it is neutralized the products of neutralization are not removed from the reactor the essential manipulative steps of the invention which are so surprisingly effective are i esterification to produce the haa p in addition to the haa m despite the presence of the slight excess of m aa and ii polymerizing the carboxylic acid and the alkoxylated esters thereof in the presence of the esterification catalyst though a small amount of haa p is formed during the esterification step if only a stoiciometrically molar amount of m aa required to form only haa m is present such stoichiometric amount is not preferred an additional benefit of the process of this invention is that it may be carried out in a single properly equipped reactor avoiding transfer and handling of materials which results in economy safety and convenience hence referred to as 34 one pot two step 34 all without introducing interfering reactions deleterious to the formation of the copolymer desired since esterification is carried out in the presence of a slight molar excess of from about 5 to about 25 of meth acrylic acid some acid remains in the reaction product if upon analysis this amount of acid is insufficient to give the desired mix of esters additional acid may be added it will be apparent if the excess of acid is greater than 25 the formation of the haa p will be retarded even with a catalyst which favors its formation subsequent polymerization of the m aa.