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Synthesis and properties of novel ferroelectric liquid crystalline polyacetylenes containing terphenyl mesogens with chiral groups

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Abstract

Novel ferroelectric liquid crystalline (FLC) polyacetylenes, namely, “side-end-fixed” type of PAM 6 OTPhOR* and “side-on-fixed” type of PAM 3 OCO(TPh)OR* were designed and synthesized in high yields (89.3 and 62.0%), respectively, where the terphenyl was linked at the different positions. The thermal stability of PAM 3 OCO(TPh)OR* is better than PAM 6 OTPhOR* owing to the “jacket effect” from terphenyl pendant linked at the waist position well protecting the main chain from the perturbations. The PAM 3 OCO(TPh)OR* shows enantiotropic chiral smectic A phase (SmA*), but it is noteworthy that the PAM 6 OTPhOR* exhibits enantiotropic chiral smectic C phase (SmC*) responsible for ferroelectric liquid crystallinity. Compared to “side-end-fixed” type of polymer, the “side-on-fixed” type shows better light emitting property, ascribed to the mesogen linked at the waist position has stronger tendency to enhance the main-chain coplanarity. Furthermore, the circular dichroism (CD) spectra demonstrate that the asymmetric force field generated by the chiral center affects the secondary structure of PAM 3 OCO(TPh)OR*.

Graphical Abstract

Novel ferroelectric liquid crystalline polyacetylenes (PAM 6 OTPhOR* and PAM 3 OCO(TPh)OR*) containing terphenyl pendants with chiral end groups were synthesized. The “side-on-fixed” type of PAM 3 OCO(TPh)OR* showed enantiotropic SmA*, but it is noteworthy that the “side-end-fixed” type of PAM 6 OTPhOR* showed enantiotropic SmC* responsible for ferroelectric liquid crystallinity. Compared to “side-end-fixed” type of polymer, the “side-on-fixed” type shows better light emitting property ascribed to the mesogen linked at the waist position have stronger tendency to enhance the main-chain coplanarity.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51073076, 50902067 and 51003045).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Nanchang University, 999 Xuefu Avenue, Nanchang, 330031, China

    Ting Hu, Huanling Kong, Lie Chen & Yiwang Chen

  2. Institute of Polymers, Nanchang University, 999 Xuefu Avenue, Nanchang, 330031, China

    Ting Hu, Lie Chen, Yiwang Chen, Fan Li & Daijun Zha

Authors
  1. Ting Hu
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  2. Huanling Kong
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  3. Lie Chen
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  4. Yiwang Chen
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Correspondence to Lie Chen, Yiwang Chen or Fan Li.

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Hu, T., Kong, H., Chen, L. et al. Synthesis and properties of novel ferroelectric liquid crystalline polyacetylenes containing terphenyl mesogens with chiral groups. J Therm Anal Calorim 105, 995–1006 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-011-1539-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-011-1539-0

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