Poly(hydroxyether of phenolphthalein) (PPH) was synthesized through the polycondensation of phenolphthalein with epichlorohydrin. It was characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, NMR spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The miscibility of the blends of PPH with poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) was established on the basis of the thermal analysis results. DSC showed that the PPH/PEO blends prepared via casting from N,N-dimethylformamide possessed single, composition-dependent glass-transition temperatures. Therefore, the blends were miscible in the amorphous state for all compositions. FTIR studies indicated that there were competitive hydrogen-bonding interactions with the addition of PEO to the system, which were involved with (OHO)-O-. . .=C<, -OH. . -OH, and -OH vs ether oxygen atoms of PEO hydrogen bonding, that is both intramolecular and intermolecular, between PPH and PEO). Some of the hydroxyl stretching vibration bands significantly shifted to higher frequencies, whereas others shifted to lower frequencies, and this suggested the formation of hydrogen bonds between the pendant hydroxyls of PPH and ether oxygen atoms of PEO, which were stronger than the intramolecular hydrogen bonding between hydroxyls and carbonyls of PPH. The FTIR spectra in the range of carbonyl stretching vibrations showed that the hydroxyl-associated carbonyl groups were partially set free because of the presence of the competitive hydrogen-bonding interactions. (C) 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.