ABSTRACTTwo kinds of chiral 1,1′‐binaphthol (BINOL)‐based polymer enantiomers were designed and synthesized by the polymerization of 5,5′‐((2,2′‐bis (octyloxy)‐[1,1′‐binaphthalene]‐3,3′‐diyl)bis(ethyne‐2,1‐diyl))bis(2‐hydroxybenzaldehyde) (M1) with alkyl diamine (M2) via nucleophilic addition–elimination reaction. The resulting chiral polymers can exhibit mirror image cotton effects either in the absence or in the presence of Zn2+ ion. Almost no fluorescence or circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) emission could be observed for two chiral BINOL‐based polymer enantiomers in the absence of Zn2+. Interestingly, the chiral polymers can show strong fluorescence and CPL response signals upon the addition of Zn2+, which can be attributed to Zn2+‐coordination fluorescence enhancement effect. This work can develop a new strategy on the design of the novel CPL materials via metal‐coordination reaction. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2018, 56, 1282–1288