Anisotropic polymer

• US 5,785,889 A
• Filed: 10/04/1996
• Issued: 07/28/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 10/06/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Merck Patent GmbH (Merck & Co., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Merck Patent GmbH (Merck & Co., Inc.)
• Inventors: Verrall, Mark, Greenfield, Simon, Gray, George William, Coates, David, Goulding, Mark John, Sherrington, David, Parri, Owain
• Primary Examiner(s): Nagumo, Mark
• Application Number:
  US08/725,514
• Time in Patent Office: 662 Days
• Field of Search: 526/246, 526/313, 252/299.01, 252/299.66, 428/1
• US Class Current: 252/299.01
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 19/38 Polymers
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 19/3857 containing at least one asymmetric carbon atom
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 2219/03 in the form of films, e.g. films after polymerisation of LC precursor
• CPC Class Codes: C09K 2323/00 Functional layers of liquid crystal optical display excluding electroactive liquid crystal layer characterised by chemical composition

Abstract

The invention relates to an anisotropic polymer film or polymer net-work obtainable by photopolymerization of at least one mesogene-containing compound, having two side chains attached to a mesogenic core structure one of which is polymerizable, the other of which is capable of forming association dimers by hydrogen bonds.

Claims

1. An anisotropic polymer film or polymer network prepared by photopolymerization of at least one mesogen-containing compound having two side chains attached to a mesogenic core structure, one side chain being polymerizable, the other side chain being capable of forming association dimers by hydrogen bonds, such that the polymer film or polymer network contains mesogen-containing compounds polymerized by the polymerizable side chains and hydrogen-bonded by the other side chains to form association dimers.

2. The polymer film or polymer network of claim 1 which is prepared from only one mesogen-containing compound and such that it contains identical mesogen-containing compound units.

3. The anisotropic polymer film or polymer network according to claim 1, wherein the mesogen-containing compound is a carboxylic acid compound.

4. The anisotropic polymer film or polymer network according to claim 1 prepared by photopolymerization of a compound of formula l

5. The anisotropic polymer film or polymer network according to claim 4, wherein

MG is a mesogenic or mesogenity supporting group of formula ll

6. A copolymerizable precursor material comprising at least one polymerizable chiral mesogenic compound and at least one reactive achiral compound of formula I of

View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)

7. The copolymerizable precursor material according to claim 6 comprising at least one polymerizable chiral mesogenic compound and at least one bifunctional reactive achiral compound of formula l in which

R¹ is an acrylate radical of formula ##STR16## wherein W is H, Cl or alkyl with 1-5 C atoms.

8. The copolymerizable precursor material according to claim 6, comprising at least one polymerizable chiral mesogenic compound and at least one compound of formula l in which R¹ is a vinylether radical of formula CH₂ =CH--O--.

9. The copolymerizable precursor material of claim 6, wherein the polymerizable chiral mesogenic compound is of the formula lll:

space="preserve" listing-type="equation">R.sup.1 --(P).sub.u --Y--MG.sup.1 --Q* (3)

wherein R¹, P, u and Y are as defined;

MG¹ is independently as defined for MG; and

Q* is a group containing at least one chiral C atom.

10. The copolymerizable precursor material according to claim 9 in which MG and MG¹ are each independently selected from ##STR17## in which X is CH₃, Cl, F, OCH₃ or --CO--CH₃, and

r is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4.

11. The copolymerizable material according to claims 6 comprising at least one compound of formula la ##STR18## in which W is H, Cl or alkyl with 1-5 C atoms, X is CH₃, Cl, F, OCH₃ or --CO--CH₃,

r is 0, 1, 2, 3 or4, and

n is an integer of from 2 to 12.

12. The copolymerizable precursor material according to claim 11 comprising at least two compounds of formula la with different values for.

13. A method for preparing a polymer film or polymer network which comprises photopolymerizing at least one mesogen-containing compound having two side chains attached to a mesogenic core structure, one side chain being polymerizable, the other side chain being capable of forming association dimers by hydrogen bonds, such that the polymerizable side chains polymerize and the other side chains hydrogen bond to form association dimers.