Liquid Crystalline Behaviors of Polycholesterylmethacrylate and Poly(Cholesterylmethacrylate Co-1-hexene), Their Synthesis and Characterization

The synthesis of polycholesterylmethacrylate and poly(cholesterylmethacrylate-co-1-hexene) at different monomer feed ratios with their liquid crystalline behaviours have been reported in this article. Liquid crystalline phases of the polymer and copolymers have been detected under the hot stage microscope and also by differential scanning calorimetric and X-ray diffraction technique. The polymers are characterized by IR spectroscopy, proton NMR spectroscopy and GPC system. The reactivity ratios of cholesterylmethacrylate and 1-hexene are found to be r1 = 2 and r2 = 1.6, respectively. The number average molecular weight of the polymer is 1.01 × 104 Daltons and that of the copolymers are much higher than the polymer.