The molecular structure of benzoxazine is closely related to its polymerization activity and the properties of its polymer. In this work, benzoxazines were successfully synthesized from phenol, paraformaldehyde and meta-substituted anilines. Their polymerization behaviors were discussed by non-isothermal differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Moreover, the thermal properties of corresponding polybenzoxazines were evaluated using DSC and thermogravimetric analysis. The results showed that the electron-withdrawing substituent increased the polymerization temperature while the electron-donating substituent lowered the polymerization temperature. The glass transition temperature decreased for polybenzoxazine with electron-donating substituent but elevated for polybenzoxazine with electron-withdrawing substituent. Besides, the thermal stability and thermal degradation mechanism of polybenzoxazine were significantly affected by the substituent. This work supplied further insight in the structure-property relationship of benzoxazine resin.