A vinyl substituted 2, 2':6',2"-terpyridine and a mixed, bifunctional ruthenium(II)-terpyridine complex bearing a vinyl and a hydroxymethyl group are utilized as comonomers for radical copolymerization with styrene. The resulting polymers are characterized by means of UV-vis spectroscopy and gel permeation chromatography, coupled with an in-line diode array spectrophotometer.