Structure and Dynamics of Liquid Crystalline Polymers from Deuteron NMR

The molecular structures of thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers, which have been synthesized systematically in recent years, are described according to the model of decoupling the molecular motions of the mesogenic groups and the polymer chain by inserting a flexible spacer. The molecular structure is related to the properties of these systems, e.g., phase transition temperatures, mesophases formed, etc. The structure and mobility of a specific side chain, liquid crystalline polyacrylate with phenyl benzoate as a mesogenic group is investigated by deuteron NMR and compared with the behaviour of low molecular weight analogues selectively deuterated at equivalent positions, i.e., at the …