Hydrocarbon and fluorocarbon end-capped poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) macromonomers with 9,23, and 45 ethylene oxide units were synthesized by the esterification method. Copolymerization of these macromers with acrylic acid (AA) resulted in hydrophobically grafted poly(AA)s (PAAs) containing different lengths of PEG spacers. Their solution properties were investigated by rheological measurements and compared to those without hydrocarbon and fluorocarbon groups and without PEG spacers. Evident hydrophobic association was found to exist in the aqueous solution of these hydrophobically grafted copolymers, and the associating efficiency was improved by the flexible PEG spacer compared to those counterparts without them. However, the intramolecular association became predominant with the spacer length increase and the solution viscosity decreased. A wide viscosity plateau was observed for macromer modified polyelectrolytes in the alkalization process, which was unavailable for hydrophobically modified ones without PEG spacers. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.