We used a Gilch or sulfonium precursor route to prepare 2,5-substituted poly(p-phenylenevinylene) (PPV) derivatives with methoxy-terminated oligo(ethylene oxide) side chains (EOm-PPV, EOm = CH3O(CH2CH2O)(m) and m = 1-3). The intermediate and final products were characterized by UV-vis, FTIR, and NMR spectroscopy. A bathochromic shift from lambda(max) = 476 nm (m = 1) to lambda(max) = 511 nm (m = 3) and a constant optical band gap between 2.13 and 2.14 eV were observed in the W-vis spectra for the resultant conjugated polymers with different side chain lengths. The red EOm-PPV showed similar photo- and electro-emissions at ca. 600 nm. Single layer LEDs with the structure ITO/EOm-PPVs/Al showed turn-on voltages at ca. 7 V. Pattern formation was achieved by patterned plasma polymerization of acetic acid onto, for example, perfluorinated ethylene-propylene copolymer (FEP) films, followed by selective adsorption of EO3-PPV from chloroform solutions.