An ionic conjugated polymer with azobenzene moieties was synthesized through the self-activated anionic polymerization of 2-ethynylpyridine with 4-[4-(6-bromohexyloxy)phenylazo]benzonitrile. The poly-merization proceeded well in DMF solvent at 100℃, to give a relatively high yield (79%), even without an additional catalyst. The polymerization solution became increasingly more viscous and darker brown as the reaction proceeded. Instrumental analyses revealed that the present polymer had a conjugated backbone system and side-chain-appended azobenzene moieties. The FT-IR spectrum of the resulting polymer did not show the acetylenic C≡C bond stretching and acetylenic ≡ C-H bond stretching frequencies of 2- ethynylpyridine. Instead, the C=C stretching frequency peak of the conjugated polymer backbone (at ca. 1600 cm-1) became relatively more intense than those of the C=C and C≡N stretching frequencies of 2-ethynylpyridine and 4-[4-(6-bromohexyloxy)phenylazo]benzonitrile. The absorption spectrum began at ca. 800 nm; it displays a weak absorption band in the visible region, due to the π→π interband transition of the polymer backbone, which is a characteristic peak of conjugated polyene backbone systems. The photoluminescence spectrum showed that the PL peak is located at 542 nm, corresponding to a photon energy of 2.29 eV.