The copolymerizations of (2S,4S)-2,4-pentanediyl bis(4-vinylbenzoate), a monomer having a chiral acyclic template, with styrene (St) were carried out using azobisisobutyronitrile in toluene at 60 degrees C. The copolymers obtained (4) essentially consisted of the cyclic repeating and St units, because characteristic absorption at 5.3 and 5.8 ppm due to the vinyl protons disappeared in the H-1 nuclear magnetic resonance spectra. The specific rotation ([alpha](23)(435), c 1.0, CHCl3) of 4 changed from +319.3 degrees to +395.2 degrees. The removal of the chiral template from 4 was carried out in aqueous MeOH using KOH, and the resulting hydrolysed copolymers were then converted into poly(methyl 4-vinylbenzoate-co-styrene) (5) by reacting with diazomethane. The specific rotation ([alpha](23)(435), c 1.0, CHCl3) of 5 was -9.4 degrees to -46.3 degrees. The circular dichroic (c.d.) spectrum of 5 showed a splitting Cotton effect with a negative Cotton effect at 255.2 nm and a positive one at 237.2 nm. According to the c.d. exciton chirality method, copolymer 5 had a negative chirality in which two 4-vinylbenzoyl groups twisted counterclockwise, i.e. an (R,R)-configuration of the vicinal (methyl 4-vinylbenzoate) units in the main chain.