Liquid-crystalline stereoregular polyketone prepared from a mesogenic vinylarene and carbon monoxide

Isotactic and syndiotactic polyketones were synthesized by the alternating copolymerizations of a mesogenic vinylarene, 4‐cyano‐4′‐[8‐(4‐vinylphenyl)octyl‐1‐oxy]biphenyl, with carbon monoxide, and this revealed the influence of backbone tacticity on their thermal properties. The isotactic polyketone was an amorphous polymer that did not show any mesophase, whereas the syndiotactic polyketone exhibited liquid crystallinity. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 3556–3563, 2003 Isotactic and syndiotactic polyketones were synthesized by the alternating copolymerizations of a mesogenic vinylarene, 4‐cyano‐4′‐[8‐(4‐vinylphenyl)octyl‐1‐oxy]biphenyl, with carbon monoxide, and this revealed the influence of backbone tacticity on their thermal properties. The isotactic polyketone was an amorphous polymer that did not show any mesophase, whereas the syndiotactic polyketone exhibited liquid crystallinity.