The synthesis and photophysics of a blue fluorescent polymer with a quinoline derivative in the side chain have been described. The sensitivity of poly(HQPEMA) to transition-metal ions such as Fe3+, Zn2+, Co2+, Cu2+, and so forth has been explored by fluorescence emission spectroscopy. The results showed that the fluorescence of the polymer was significantly quenched by the addition of the ferric ion. The high selectivity and sensitivity for Fe3+ were observed in different organic solvents such as N,N-dimethylformamide, tetrahydrofuran, 1, 2-dichlorethane and chloroform. The polymer as a fluorescent sensor toward Fe3+ was investigated in detail. The fluorescence quenching was found to be a linear relationship with Fe3+ concentration. The fluorescence quenching behavior is a typical Stem-Volmer quenching with a Stem-Volmer constant (Ksv) of 1.44 x 10(4) M-1. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.