Hydrophilic copolymers containing 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), thymine, or adenine were prepared by the free-radical copolymerization of methacryloyl-type monomers containing them with water-soluble vinyl monomers such as acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, vinylpyrroli-done, acrylamide, and 4(5)-vinylimidazole with AIBN as initiator. Complex formation between the copolymers and RNA and between the copolymers having complementary nucleic acid bases in aqueous solution and a DMSO-ethylene glycol was studied by means of UV spectroscopy. These copolymers were found to release the N-hydroxyethyl derivatives of 5-FU, thymine, or adenine by hydrolysis of the ester of the polymer side chain under mild conditions. The effects of the kind of water-soluble comonomer, temperature, pH, and the imidazole group as catalyst on the hydrolysis of the ester are discussed.