11-Dodecyn-1-ol as an achiral, aliphatic, monosubstituted acetylene was copolymerized with cholesteryl 3-butynyl carbonate as a chiral, aliphatic, monosubstituted acetylene with Rh(nbd)[B(C6H5)(4)] (nbd = norbornadiene) in tetrahydrofuran. The main chain of the obtained copolymers seemed to be mainly composed of the cis-type structure. The backbone pi-pi* transition of these copolymers showed significant circular dichroism (CD), indicating an excess of one-handed helical conformation. These CD signals were varied with the contents of the cholesteryl units in the copolymers. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.