Glass Forming Nematic Twin Molecules Synthesis and Polymerization Kinetics

In this paper we describe the synthesis of a nematic twin molecule with a lateral methyl substituent in the mesogenic group. This compound exhibits a broad nematic mesophase between -18°C and 135°C and can be supercooled into a liquid crystalline glass. The LC-phase was permanently fixed into a network by in-situ photopolymerization. The broad mesophase of the twin molecule allows the investigation of the photopolymerization behaviour by photo-DSC-measurements in a wide tem-perature range. The Tg of the polymer network was determined by TMA-measurements.