A card anol/m-cresol-based copolymer was esterified using di-tert-butyl dicarbonate (t-BOC), which makes it a suitable candidate as a possible e-beam resists. This work reports a full characterization of the product using the techniques of FTIR and UV-Visible spectroscopy, one dimensional H-1 NMR, C-13 NMR, DEPT-135. Two dimensional NMR experiments such as, COSY, HSQC, and HMBC have been employed for exhaustive probing of the microstructural details of this derivatized copolymer. (c) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.