Self-organized liquid-crystalline polyethers obtained by grafting tapered mesogenic groups onto poly(epichlorohydrin): Toward biomimetic ion channels

A set of high-molecular-weight new side-chain liquid-crystalline polyethers was obtained by chemical modification of poly(epichlorohydrin) with potassium 3,4,5-tris(dodecyloxy)benzoate. The degree of modification ranged from 48 to 70% depending on the reaction conditions, and the upper value was an apparent modification plateau. NMR characterization indicated that no side reactions of any kind occurred (e.g., deshydrohalogenation). All copolymers had a nematic columnar mesophase whose range of stability depended on the modification degree. X-ray diffraction experiments performed on mechanically oriented samples showed that tapered groups were tilted with respect to the column axes. Also X-ray experiments and density measurements demonstrated that the number of disks per unit cell decreased as the modification degree increased.