This article presents novel N-propargylurea-based copolymers that contain both carbazole and urea moieties in their side chains. The homopolymer of monomer I with a carbazole group exhibited interesting fluorescence properties, while the homopolymer of monomer 2 with a chiral center formed helical structures. The copolymerizations of monomers I and 2 provided optically active helical copolymers, which had fluorescence properties, even for the copolymer that contained as low as 20 mol% of monomer unit 1. Fluorescent and optically active composite films were further prepared based on the copolymers and with poly(vinyl butyl) as the supporting material. This study contributes to the intriguing research field of optically active helical polymers and their practical applications. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.