Cholesteryl ester copolymers

In the next step, the cholesteryl ester entities copolymerized in the shell, were split by carbonate ester hydrolysis. The hydrolysis was carried out in sodium hydroxide in methanol. Thereby, an analogue of cholesterol, the target molecule for later recognition, was removed from the copolymer network. The particles were now ready for non-covalent binding of cholesterol. To quantify the binding behavior of colloidal MIPs, they were mixed with a cholesterol containing solution, separated from the liquid and the cholesterol concentration in the supernatant was quantified by HPLC. 

The size of the diluent side group is reflected in the extent to which comparable transition temperatures are affected. For example, in a series of methacrylate copolymers involving cholesteryl ester mesogens with alkyl ester diluents (Fig. 7.14), the magnitude of the depression of T (at constant molar fraction of diluent) increased in the order R = methyl < n-butyl < t-butyl < dodecyl < octadecyl. 

Actually, these considerations are confirmed by experiments 82). The systems investigated are shown in Table 8, No. 4, which are induced cholesteric polymer systems. The nematogenic host molecules of benzoic acid phenyl esters are linked via spacers of different length m (m = 3, 4, 5, 6) to the polymer backbone. The polymers are converted to polymers having a cholesteric phase by the chiral cholesteryl derivative, which is also linked to the polymer backbone (copolymer). 

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