The chiroptical properties of a new liquid-crystalline polymer: (trityl)(pentyl)cellulose

The chiroptical properties of a new liquid crystalline polymer, trityl pentyl cellulose (TPeC), are discussed. This polymer forms lyotropic liquid-crystalline phases in tetrahydrofuran and chloroform. The cholesteric twist sense is right handed in both solvents. The dilute solution optical activity of the phenyl chromophores, measured by circular dichroism (CD), showed no evidence of the exciton splitting expected for a helical arrangement of chromophores. The sign and magnitude of the CD signals were found to change considerably upon mesophase formation.