In this study, styrene‐maleic anhydride (SMA) copolymer was modified by monoesterification method with 9‐(hydroxymethyl)anthracene fluorophore to prepare a fluorescent anthracene labeled SMA (SMA‐An) material. The latter was then characterized by attenuated total reflection (ATR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) techniques. In the second step of this work, SMA‐An was added to SMA/[Styrene‐Acrylonitrile Copolymer (SAN)] and SMA/[Poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)] blends to investigate the miscibility of these blends at the molecular level. The miscibility of SMA/PMMA blends was characterized using fluorescence quenching of anthracene by the succinic anhydride and succinic acid functions on SMA macromolecule itself. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007