• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.615-620
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• 2010

In this study, five series of novel polyurethanes was synthesized by the polyaddition reaction of diisocyanates such as 2,6-tolylene diisocyanate(2,6-TDI), 2,5-tolylene diisocyanate(2,5-TDI), 2,4-tolylene diisocyanate(2,4-TDI), and 1,4-phenylene diisocyanate(1,4-PDI), hexamethylene diisocyanate(HDI) with 4,4'-Bis(3-hydroxypropoxy)biphenyl (BP3), 4,4'-bis(3-hydroxypropoxy)biphenyl exhibited a smectic type mesophase. Monotropic mesophase was found for all synthesized liquid crystalline polyurethanes except HDI/BP3. In contrast, 1,4-PDI/BP3 without a methyl substituent in the phenylene unit exhibited no explicit mesomorphic behavior, which was confirmed by DSC and polarizing microscopy experiments. Structures of the compound were identified by FT-IR and $^1H$-NMR spectroscopies. Their phase transition temperatures and thermal stability were also investigated by differential scanning calorimetry(DSC), polarized optical microscopy(POM) and x-ray diffraction analysis.