• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.276-287
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• 2013

Two kinds of N,O-hydroxypropyl chitosans (HPCTOs) with degree of substitution (DS) and molar substitution (MS) ranging from 2.15 to 2.39 and 2.9 to 4.1, respectively, and five kinds of aliphatic acid esters of HPCTOs (HPCTOAms, m=0,2,4,7,9, the number of methylene units in aliphatic substituent) based on the HPCTOs were synthesized, and the thermotropic liquid crystalline properties of the derivatives were investigated. All the derivatives formed enantiotropic cholesteric phases whose optical pitches (${\lambda}_m$'s) increased with increasing temperature. However, the glass and clearing temperatures, the magnitude of ${\lambda}_m$ of the mesophase at the same temperature, and the temperature dependence of ${\lambda}_m$ of the investigated derivatives highly depended on MS and m. The thermotropic mesophase properties of HPCTOAms were significantly different from those reported for the aliphatic acid esters of hydroxypropyl celluloses. The results indicate that the secondary amino group in the C-2 position plays an important role in the thermal stabilization and temperature dependence of ${\lambda}_m$ of the cholesteric mesophase.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.475-482
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• 2007

The thermal and optical properties of glucose penta(cholesteryloxycarbonyl)alkanoates (CAGLn, n = 2~8, 10, the number of methylene units in the spacer) were investigated. All the CAGLn formed monotropic cholesteric phases with left-handed helical structures. CAGLn with n = 2 or 10, in contrast with CAGLn with $3{\leq}n{\leq}8$, did not display reflection colors over the full cholesteric range, suggesting that the helical twisting power of the cholesteryl group highly depends on the length of the spacer joining the cholesteryl group to the glucose chain. The isotropic-cholesteric transition point ($T_{ic}$) decreased with increasing n and showed no odd-even effect. The plot of transition entropy at $T_{ic}$ against n had a sharp negative inflection at n = 7. The optical pitches (${{\lambda}_m}^{\prime}$ s) of CAGLn with $3{\leq}n{\leq}8$ decreased with increasing temperature. However, the temperature dependence of the ${\lambda}_m$ of the derivatives exhibited pronounced dependence on n. The transitional properties and the temperature dependence of the ${\lambda}_m$ observed for CAGLn were discussed in terms of the differences in arrangement of the cholesteryl groups and the conformation of the molecules.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.446-457
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• 2008

Three kinds of hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) derivatives: 6- (cholesteryloxycarbonyl) pentoxypropyl celluloses(CHPCs) with degree of esterification(DE) ranging from 0.6 to 3, 6-[4-{4'-(nitrophenylazo)phenoxycarbonyl}] pentoxypropyl celluloses (NHPCs) with DE ranging from 0.4 to 3, and fully 6-(cholesteryloxycarbonyl) pentanoated NHPCs (CNHPCs) were synthesized, and their thermotropic liquid crystalline properties were investigated. All the CHPCs and NHPCs with $DE{\leq}1.7$ formed enantiotropic cholesteric phases, whereas CNHPCs with 6-(cholesteryloxycarbonyl) pentanoyl DE(DEC) more than 1.6 exhibited monotropic cholesteric phases. On the other hand, NHPCs with $DE{\geq}2.4$ and CNHPCs with $DEC{\leq}1.3$ showed monotropic nematic phases. NHPCs with $DE{\leq}l$, as well as HPC, formed right-handed helices whose optical pitches (${{\lambda}_m}'s$) increase with temperature, while all the CHPCs formed left-handed helices whose ${{\lambda}_m}'s$ decrease with temperature. In contrast with these derivatives, NHPCs with $1.4{\leq}DE{\leq}1.7$ and CNHPCs with $DEC{\geq}1.6$ did not display reflection colors over the full cholesteric range, suggesting that the helical twisting power of the cellulose chain and the cholesteryl group highly depends on the chemical structure and DE of mesogenic group.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.254-262
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• 2009

Nine kinds of hydroxypropyl celluloses (HPCs) with degree of substitution (DS) and molar substitution (MS) ranging from 2.10 to 2.71 and 2.3 to 6.7, respectively and seven kinds of fully butanoated HPCs (BPCs) based on the HPCs with $2.3\;{\le}\;MS\;{\le}\;6.7$ were synthesized, and the molecular characteristics of HPCs and the thermotropic liquid crystalline properties of the derivatives were investigated. MS was nearly equal to DS for small value of DS, but it became exceedly larger than DS for $DS{\gtrsim}1$, showing that in the later stages of reaction, propylene oxide preferentially adds to the side chains rather than the main chain. All the derivatives formed enantiotropic cholesteric phases with right-handed helical structures. The glass and clearing transition temperatures of both HPCs and BPCs were decreased with increasing MS. The optical pitches (${\lambda}_m'S$) of BPCs, as well as HPCs themselves, increased with increasing temperature. However, the ${\lambda}_m'S$ of both HPCs and BPCs at the same temperature increased with increasing MS. Moreover, the temperature dependence of ${\lambda}_m$ of HPCs was weaker than that of BPCs, suggesting that the helical twisting power of the cellulose chain highly depends on the length and chemical structure of the side chain introduced in cellulose chain.