The paper aims to study luminescent property and thermal property of small molecular complex of 5-butyloxymethyl-8-hydroxyquinolin terbium acrylate and its polymer complex with styrene polymer, and discuss effects of polymer time on properties of polymer complex. 5-butyloxymethyl-8- hydroxyl- quinolin (BTMQ) was synthesized by chloromethylation reaction and substitution reaction, and the small molecular complex of 5-butyloxymethyl-8-hydroxyquinolin terbium acrylate (Tb(BTMQ)2HAA) was synthesized with BTMQ and acrylic acid (HAA) as ligands. And then, the polymer complex of p(St-co-Tb(BTMQ)2HAA) was prepared by polymerization of small molecular complex and styrene. The thermal property and luminescent property were investigated by thermogravimetric (TG) analysis and determination of fluorescence spectrum. The initial decomposition temperature and fluorescence intensity of small molecular complex were 262 ℃ and 222 ℃, respectively. When the polymerization time was 8 h, the initial decomposition temperature and fluorescence intensity of the polymer complex were the highest, 380 ℃and 228 ℃, respectively. The Polymer complexes have better thermal and luminescent properties than small molecular complexes. The best polymerization time is 8 h.