THE SYNTHESIS OF LIQUID-CRYSTALLINE DIACRYLATES DERIVED FROM CYCLOHEXANE UNITS

Ordered polymeric networks are produced via the photopolymerization of liquid-crystalline (LC) diacrylates. When these diacrylates are derived from aromatic rings, the networks show UV-light instability. In order to overcome this problem, the cyclohexane analogues of two of these LC diacrylates were synthesized. The newly formed molecules exhibit much lower UV absorption than their aromatic analogues but also completely different phase behaviour. One of them showed a highly viscous LC phase, the other lacks LC properties.