Mesogenic polybutadiene diols with thiol side-chain units: synthesis and thermal behaviour

Several types of the chiral thiols with two aromatic rings have been synthesised and grafted on polybutadiene diols backbone. The resulting functional polymers possess the OH end groups for the possible preparation of liquid crystal ordered networks. The thermal and mesomorphic properties of the synthesised side-chain units and resulting polymers have been studied by polarising optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray scattering. Some of the resulting polymers possess a mesomorphic behaviour. The effects of the side-chain structure, number of the chiral groups and density of grafting on the polybutadiene diols have been studied.