Side‐chain supramolecular polymers with induced supramolecular chirality through H‐bonding interactions

Side‐chain supramolecular polymers that show columnar mesomorphism have been prepared through H‐bonding interactions between a polyvinylpyridine polymer as H‐acceptor and different H‐donors derived from benzoic acid. These compounds have been designed according to a promesogenic structure, that is, either disk‐like or banana‐like, to promote stacking and therefore the formation of columnar arrangements. IR studies confirmed the formation of H‐bonds and demonstrated that the H‐bond intensity decreases upon increasing temperature. The mesophase organizations were studied by polarized optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and X‐ray diffraction. Associations containing poly‐3‐methyl‐4‐vinylpyridine showed supramolecular optical activity, as evidenced by circular dichroism studies on thin films. It is proposed that these supramolecular polymers adopt a helical structure that can be biased toward a given handedness by virtue of the configuration of the stereogenic centers in the peripheral tails of the acids. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 5528–5541, 2008