A water-developable negative photoresist based on the photocrosslinking of N-phenylamide groups was prepared by the copolymerization of 4-styrenesulfonic acid sodium salts (SSS) with N-phenylmethacrylamide (copolymer A) or p-hydroxy-N-phenylmethacrylamide (copolymer B), and its properties such as solubility changes, photochemical reaction, and photoresist characteristics were studied. The copolymer containing a relatively higher amount of SSS units was soluble in water. Solubility changes of the copolymers in the various buffer solutions of pH 4 similar to 11 and in water upon irradiation were observed by the measurement of insoluble fraction. The copolymers were soluble in water before irradiation, whereas they became insoluble upon irradiation with the UV light of 254 run. The photochemical reaction of the copolymer studied by the UV and IR absorption spectroscopies indicated that a photo-Fries rearrangement was favored for copolymer A, whereas a photocrosslinking reaction was predominate for copolymer B. Resist properties of the copolymers were studied by measurement of the normalized thickness and by development of the micropattern. Negative tone images with a resolution of 1 mum were obtained with these materials that have a sensitivity (Do(g)(0.5)) of similar to 1100 mJ/cm(2) with an aqueous developing process.