Polymers of type [?CH2C(CO2Et)2CH2Ar?]n (Ar = 1,4-phenylene, 2,6-naphthylene, 9,10-anthrylene, or 1,4-phenylene-ethynylene-1,4-phenylene) were synthesized by alkylation of diethyl malonate with XCH2ArCH2X (X = Cl or Br). These polymers exhibited unexpectedly enhanced UV absorption and strong, broad, bathochromically shifted fluorescence spectra compared with the parent Ar compounds. The origin of these photophysical characteristics was postulated to be a configuration interaction between the p?p* excitation of the aromatic moiety and the n?p* excitation of the carbonyl moiety on the trimethylene tether via intramolecular charge transfer. (C) 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012