New pyridyl and aniline-functionalized carbamoylcarboxylic acids for removal of metal ions from water by coagulation-flocculation process

•Monomeric carbamoylcarboxylic ligands have great capacity to heavy metal ions removal.•Carbamoylcarboxylic ligands exhibit a good six-heavy metal ions simultaneous removal.•Chemical structure of carbamoylcarboxylic ligands influences their removal efficiency.•Instability phenomena in flocs evolution are the sedimentation and clarification.•Carbamoylcarboxylic ligands are biodegradable materials.