A series of poly(diphenylamine)s with substituents at the N-position, (C 6 H 4 -p-NR-C 6 H 4 -p) n (R = methyl, butyl, hexyl, and benzoyl), were prepared by organometallic polycondensation using a zerovalent nickel complex. These polymers were soluble in organic solvents such as THF, N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP), and trifluoroacetic acid (TFA), and gave intrinsic viscosity of 0.52-0.93 dL g À1 . They showed number average molecular weights (M n ) of 3400-6100 with M w =M n (M w = weight average molecular weight) of 1.9-2.4 in GPC analysis. The polymers exhibited photoluminescence (PL) with emission peaks at EM ¼ 408{425 nm in NMP solutions. P(DPA)-Ni had chemical properties different from those of P(DPA)-Ox, which was prepared by oxidative polymerization of C 6 H 5 NHC 6 H 5 . 6a P(DPA)-Ni is considered to have a welldefined linear structure shown in eq 1, because the Ni(0)L m promoted polycondensation occurs selectively at the C-Br bond.5c On the other hand, P(DPA)-Ox seems to contain structural irregularities because the oxidative polymerization can take place at various C-H positions of the phenyl group and at the NH group. P(DPA)-Ox was considered to contain at least two isomeric units, -C 6 H 4 -NH-C 6 H 4 -and -C 6 H 4 -N(C 6 H 5 )-, in the polymer main chain.