8-Hydroxyqunioline end-capped polystyrene was prepared through atom transfer free radical polymerization (ATRP) with 8-(5-chloromethyl) quinolyl acetate as initiator. The results indicated that this polymerization is a first order reaction with respect to monomer conversion. The molecular weight increased linearly with monomer consumption and very narrow distribution of molecular weight was obtained (polydispersity index less than 1.2). The FT-IR and NMR results show that the 8-hydroxyquinloine group was chemically bonded to the polymer end and there is nearly one 8-hydroxyquinoline group in per polymer chain. All those data show that polymerization of styrene at such conditions displayed living characters. The polymer with 8-hydroxyqquinoline end group reacted with tri ethyl aluminum to form polymeric light-emitting complex and single layer LED was prepared by common spin-coating method. The peak wavelength of LED based on synthesized polymeric complex was around 570 nm. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.