Copolymerization of olefins (ethylene and propylene) and 5-hexen-1-ol pretreated with alkylaluminum was performed using [dimethysilylbis(9-fluorenyl)]zirconium dichloride/methylaluminoxane as the catalyst. The copolymerization required extra addition of alkylaluminum to prevent deactivation of the catalyst when 5-hexen-1-ol was pretreated with trimethylaluminum, whereas the triisobutylaluminum-treated system did not require any addition of alkylaluminum. The molecular weight of the copolymer depended on the kind of alkylaluminum compound (masking reagent, additive, and cocatalyst). C-13 NMR analysis proved that poly(ethylene-co-5-hexen-1-ol) containing 50 mol % of 5-hexen-1-ol acted as an alternating copolymer, whereas the poly(propylene-co-5-hexen-1-ol) acted as a random copolymer. The surface property of the copolymers was simply evaluated by means of water drop contact angle measurement. It was found that the copolymers containing large amounts of 5-hexen-1-ol units showed good hydrophilic properties. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.