We investigate quantum phase transitions in ladders of spin 1/2 particles by engineering suitable matrix product states for these ladders. We take into account both discrete and continuous symmetries and provide general classes of such models. We also study the behavior of entanglement of different neighboring sites near the transition point and show that quantum phase transitions in these systems are accompanied by divergences in derivatives of entanglement.

20 pages, 6 figures, essential changes (i.e derivation of the Hamiltonian), Revtex