A functional polyurethane coating with ultraviolet (UV) rays converting ability of changing higher energy UV rays into lower ones was prepared from poly(conjugated azomethine-urethane) (CAUP) reacting with hydroxyl polyacrylate resin (HPAR). As an oligomeric isocyanate, CAUP was prepared in a reaction of toluene-2,4-diisocyanate with N,N-bis(4-hydroxyl-3-methoxybenzylidene)-o, m or p-diaminobenzene that was synthesized from vanillin and o-phenylenediamine or m-phenylenediamine or p-phenylenediamine. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, 1H-NMR, UV-vis, and fluorescence spectra were used to characterize those synthesized products and HPAR/CAUP films. UV-converting abilities of HPAR/CAUP films had been demonstrated by natural exposure to ageing and the fluorescence emission spectra of HPAR/CAUP films and CAUP solutions. Red-shift phenomena in the fluorescence emission spectra were due to molecule aggregations and stacks caused by intramolecular and intermolecular interactions such as hydrogen bonding effects. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis and thermogravimetric analysis techniques were employed to study their mechanical and thermal properties of HPAR/CAUP films. The films exhibited excellent mechanical properties and owned high glass transition temperatures over 97.0 degrees C, and their maximum thermal degradation temperatures were about 176.0 degrees C. (c) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013