Azobenzene-modified polyesters and poly(ester amide)s fitted with chiral, atropisomeric binaphthylene segments were prepared by a series of low-temperature polycondensation reactions carried out in polar solvent media. When compared with their polyaramide counterparts studied earlier, these materials had significantly improved solubility behaviors and were readily dissolved by a wide range of organic solvents. In solution, each of these constructs underwent photoinduced oscillations in optical rotatory power when subjected to multiple UV-light/visible-light illumination cycles that drove trans <-> cis isomerization reactions along their polymer chains. Light-regulated chiroptical perturbations were dependent on polymer backbone structures and were further modulated by well-coordinated temperature fluctuations and by the nature of the solvent medium employed. (c) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.