A series of stable, highly fluorescent and highly phenylated isoindoles have been synthesized by treating the respective o‐dibenzoylbenzenes with anilines at 200°C in the presence of a catalytic amount of p‐toluenesulfonic acid. The correlation between the emission frequences and the structures of the isoindoles is described. The same reaction has also been used to transform a series of poly(o‐dibenzoylbenzene)s into poly(isoindole)s. The resulting polymers have been studied by 1H‐NMR, DSC, TGA, and fluorescence spectra. They are highly fluorescent materials with high molecular weights, high glass transition temperatures, and high thermal stabilities. The tetraphenyl substituted isoindole‐containing polymers have a maximum emission around 468 nm, whereas the diphenyl substituted isoindole‐containing polymers have their maximum emission around 486 nm. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 3293–3299, 1999