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Abstract
Virtually all known liquid crystalline polymers contain heteroatoms that can increase mesophase stability through anisotropic intermolecular attractions such as dipolar interactions or hydrogen bonds. In the present work the syntheses of all-hydrocarbon polymers with a mesogenic group in the side chain are discussed. Five high molecular weight polymers have been prepared by Ziegler-Natta polymerizations of liquid crystalline biphenyl-containing monomers. Three of the polymers display a smectic structure as indicated by fiber X-ray diffraction patterns. The results of the varations of the lengths of the spacer and terminal groups and data from polarized light optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry are discussed.