Stimuli‐responsive polymers. VIII. Polyesters and poly(ester amides) containing azobenzene and chiral binaphthylene segments: Highly adaptive materials endowed with light‐, heat‐, and solvent‐regulated optical rotatory power

Azobenzene‐modified polyesters and poly(ester amide)s fitted with chiral, atropisomeric binaphthylene segments were prepared by a series of low‐temperature polycondensation reactions carried out in polar solvent media. When compared with their polyaramide counterparts studied earlier, these materials had significantly improved solubility behaviors and were readily dissolved by a wide range of organic solvents. In solution, each of these constructs underwent photoinduced oscillations in optical rotatory power when subjected to multiple UV‐light/visible‐light illumination cycles that drove trans?cis isomerization reactions along their polymer chains. Light‐regulated chiroptical perturbations were dependent on polymer backbone structures and were further modulated by well‐coordinated temperature fluctuations and by the nature of the solvent medium employed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 207–218, 2006