Magnetically forced alignment of liquid crystalline aromatic conjugated polymers and their electrical and optical anisotropies

Liquid crystalline (LC) aromatic conjugated polymers, poly(p-phenylene)s (LC-PPPs) and poly(p-phenylenevinylene)s (LC-I'PVs), were synthesized and then macroscopically aligned under magnetic field to construct mono-domain structures. X-ray diffraction patterns indicated that the main chains of di-substituted polymers are aligned perpendicular to the magnetic field. In case of mono-substituted polymers, however, the main chains are aligned parallel to the magnctic field. The macroscopically aligned polymers showed electrical anisotoropies as well as optical dichruisms in polarized IR, UV-Vis. and fluorescence spectra.