| Abstract: | A new series of thermotropic liquid-crystalline polymers, poly(vinyl ether)s and poly(propenyl ether)s, containing the mesogen 4-methoxy-4′-hydroxybiphenyl in the side chain and different spacers between the mesogens and the backbone were synthesized and characterized by DSC and optical microscopy. Their mesomorphic behavior was compared to that of the corresponding polymethacrylates. In general the poly(propenyl ether)s showed lower transition temperatures and larger thermal stability ranges of their mesophases than the respective polymethacrylates, reflecting the effect of substituting the rigid ester bond connecting the spacer to the backbone in polymethacrylates by a more flexible ether bond. Also, poly(propenyl ether)s showed more ordered mesophases than the polymethacrylates, suggesting that a better decoupling of the mesogen and polymer backbone is obtained through the ether linkage. |
