Synthesis and Thermal Properties of Side Chain Type Liquid Crystalline Polymers With Chiral Unit in the Flexible Moiety

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the synthesis and thermal properties for five families of side-chain type liquid crystal- line polymers. All these side-chain type polymers showed an enantiotropic mesomorphic nature. A sharp reflection was observed in the small angle region, whereas a broad halo or a relatively sharp peak was also detected in the wide angle region for all the polymers. The experimental values of the thickness of the smectic layer which can be easily assigned by the polarizing microscopic measurements were smaller than that of the calculated ones. This difference would be caused from the tilted arrangement in the smectic layer or smectic A like structure in which the side chains would be overlapped.