| Abstract: | A series of supramolecular side‐chain liquid crystalline polyurethanes (SCLCPUs) was prepared by utilizing the selective hydrogen bonding interaction between polyurethane containing pyridine moieties ( 1 ) and 4‐dodecyloxybenzoic acid ( 2 ). Hydrogen bonding was confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy and supported by medium high level ab‐initio MO calculations. The components are miscible up to 0.7 mole of 2 versus the polyurethane repeat unit and the resulting complexes behave as uniform liquid‐crystalline polymers, which exhibit stable, reversible mesophases. The liquid crystalline behavior of these supramolecular polymeric complexes was established by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarizing optical microscopy (POM) and X‐ray diffractometry (XRD). The complexes show a highly ordered smectic phase, which does not appear for either of components 1 and 2 separately , and a nematic phase. Above the concentration limit of 0.7 mole of the acid 2 , the excess low molar mass molecules emerge to form a two phase system consisting of a polyurethane supramolecular complex and 4‐dodecyloxybenzoic acid ( 2 ). For complexes derived from polyurethane 1 and 4‐octyloxybenzoic acid ( 3 ) or 4‐butyloxybenzoic acid ( 4 ) with alkyl tails shorter than 2 , the phase separation occurs at lower molar ratios of 3 and 4 versus 1 . This means that the length of the alkyl tail in 4‐(alkoxy)benzoic acids plays an important role in the stabilization of supramolecular polyurethane complexes. |
