Cationic homo-and co-polymerization of indene (Ind), styrene (St), limonene (Lim), and 5-ethylidene-2-norbornene (ENB) was performed with AlCl 3 in dichloroethane at À20°C under inert N 2 . The aim of this work is to investigate the effect of the reaction conditions on the molecular weight of polyindene (PInd) obtained by cationic polymerization with AlCl 3 without an electron donor, and also to determine the effect of the use of cyclic diolefin comonomers on the polymer properties. The polymers were synthesized at a monomer/catalyst molar ratio (MR) of 100; St and Lim showed the highest and lowest reactivity, respectively. The polymers were characterized by 13 C and 1 H NMR spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, size exclusion chromatography, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis. PInd with a number average molecular weight (M n ) of 45 Â 10 3 g/mol and a glass transition temperature (T g ) of 207°C was obtained, whereas only oligomeric polylimonenes were obtained. Cyclic diolefins depressed both the M n and T g values of the Ind-copolymers. There was a dramatic decrease in the M n of the polymers: those obtained at a MR of 1:1 in the feed presented M n values lower than 10 4 g/mol, with the exception of poly(Ind-co-ENB), which is cross-linked. Poly(Ind-co-Lim) with lateral double bonds, a comonomer content of 1 to 20 mol%, and T g values in the range of 140-200°C were obtained.