Three types of copolymers composed of pyrrole and 3-alkyl pyrroles (with alkyl being pentyl, nonyl and undecyl) have been synthesized. A strong linear dependency of the alkyl chain length on the as-prepared copolyrner physical properties is demonstrated via (a) DSC (for phase transition temperatures and enthalpy changes) and (b) UV-vis (for wavelengths of the polaronic and bipolaronic electronic transitions, and ratio of the corresponding absorbances). A trend in the copolymers ' doping level vs alkyl chain length is also estimated, via IR, by taking the ratio of band intensities of the stretching modes of the polaromic and bipolaromic species. The copolymers are found to be soluble in organic solvents and their solutions can be cast onto glass substrates or metals resulting in thin films, which can be used as the electroactive component of Schottky diodes. The electrical properties of these diodes are also found to be dependent on increasing 3-alkyl chain length. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.