Herein we synthesized three polar post-cross-linked resins by adjusting the initial cross-linking degree of the precursor copolymers, and found that the porosity and polarity of these resins could be effectively tuned. The polar post-cross-linked resin with the initial cross-linking degree of 10% (abbreviated as PVE_10%_pc) possessed a much greater BET surface area and almost all micro/mesopores, but lower content of ester groups, while that with the initial cross-linking degree of 60% (named as PVE_60%_pc) had a much less BET surface area, less micro/mesopores and considerable macropores, but higher content of ester groups. The different porosity and polarity of these resins endowed them with different selectivity for the adsorption of aromatic compounds. PVE_10%_pc owned the largest equilibrium capacity to phenol whilst PVE_40%_pc was the most efficient for adsorption of benzoic acid, and hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interaction and pi-pi stacking were the main driving forces for the adsorption. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.