Some aspects of the structure–property relations for substituted biphenyl acrylic polymers and copolymers

A series of substituted biphenyl acrylic monomers were produced with the aim of studying the properties characteristic of mesophases observed for some of the resulting polymers. The introduction of a spacer unit, composed of a short sequence of methylene groups, which decoupled the polymer main-chain from the mesogenic side group was investigated. Polymers in which the biphenyl group was replaced by naphthyl or phenyl groups were also examined. Replacement of the acrylate group by a methacrylate group caused marked differences in the properties of the resulting polymers, which was discussed in terms of main-chain structures. [Continues.]