A macromolecul~metal complex with redox centres on the same polymer chain of partially quaternized poly(1vinylimidazole) (QPVlm) has been designed. In this complex, Co(tfacacen) (tfacacen = N,N'-ethylenebis(l,l,ltrifluoro-4-iminopentan-2-one), a Cot'-Schiff base complex, and quaternized imidazolium residues, an oxidizing agent, are both linked to a polymer backbone. The mechanism of the electron-transfer reaction between Co(tfacacen) and the quaternized imidazolium residue on this macromolecular complex have been investigated. The electron-transfer rate depends linearly on the concentration of Co" residues and the degree of quaternization but is independent of the concentration of quaternized imidazolium residue. These dependencies indicate that, under the experimental conditions, an intra-polymer electron-transfer reaction occurs in this system. The reaction product formed by reduction of the quaternized imidazolium residue was identified by means of 'H NMR and absorption spectroscopies. The results show that the predominant reduction product is 3-ethyl-4imidazoline-containing polymer.