Hydrocarbon main-chain liquid-crystalline polymers

Hydrocarbon Main-Chain Liquid Crystalline Polymers... 

Cho et al. described the synthesis and polymerization of 4,8-cyclododeca-dien-l-yl-(4 -methoxy-4-biphenyl) terephthalate VIII [54,55]. Polymerization was carried out with WCl4(OAr)2/PbEt4. The double bonds in the polymer backbone were subsequently hydrogenated with H2/Pd(C), leading to a SCLCP with a fully saturated hydrocarbon backbone. This polymer system had a very flexible polymer backbone but a stiff connection between the main chain and the mesogenic unit. The distance between two adjacent side chains was about 12 methylene units. This very flexible main chain allowed the polymer to organize into a LC mesophase. Both polymers - the unsaturated and the saturated -showed smectic liquid crystalline mesophases with almost the same transition temperatures (see Table 5). 

As described earlier, thermotropic, liquid crystalline polymers can be obtained by inserting flexible units in the main chain. As shown in Figure 8, these units can be hydrocarbon ... 

Polymer A showed a crystalline X-ray diffraction pattern and an endothermic peak at 31-42 C in differential scanning thermograms. The polymer had birefringence below 90 C under a polarizing microscope. It is of interest to speculate as follows. Both of the hydrocarbon side chains and the polysaccharide main chains are crystalline and the polymer A exhibits a unique two-stage melting process of both crystalline regions. The polymer possibly forms a liquid-crystalline mesophase between these two transition temperatures. 

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