Liquid crystalline main‐chain polymers containing the ferrocene unit as a side group

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Abstract
We have incorporated three new diethyl ω‐ferrocenylalkylmalonates into a smectic liquid crystalline main‐chain polymer in contents of about 10 mol‐%. As mesogenic unit 4,4′‐bis(6‐hydroxyhexyloxy)azoxybenzene was used as diol component and diethyl phenylmalonate as diacid component. Three ferrocene‐containing polymers were investigated in the oxidized and non‐oxidized state of the ferrocene unit varying the counterion. DSC data show a shift toward higher phase transition temperatures after oxidation, which increases with the length of the alkyl spacer between main chain and ferrocene unit. X‐ray measurements of the non‐oxidized species show an unusual increase of the smectic layer thickness with increasing length of the alkyl spacer.