A series of stable, highly fluorescent and highly phenylated isoindoles have been synthesized by treating the respective o-dibenzoylbenzenes with anilines at 200 degrees C in the presence of a catalytic amount of p-toluenesulfonic acid. The correlation between the emission frequences and the structures of the isoindoles is described. The same reaction has also been used to transform a series of poly(o-dibenzoylbenzene)s into poly(isoindole)s. The resulting polymers have been studied by H-1-NMR, DSC, TGA, and fluorescence spectra. They are highly fluorescent materials with high molecular weights, high glass transition temperatures, and high thermal stabilities. The tetraphenyl substituted isoindole-containing polymers have a maximum emission around 468 nm, whereas the diphenyl substituted isoindole-containing polymers have their maximum emission around 486 nm.