Paramagnetic organometallic liquid crystal polymers

We have synthesized a paramagnetic organometallic liquid crystal polymer containing a tetradentate Schiff base complex of copper II. The main chain liquid crystal polymer forms when the functionalized complex is combined at 220°C with the melt of a low molecular weight terpolymer. The terpolymer is a nematic liquid crystal at this temperature and contains oxybenzoate, dioxyphenyl, and pimeloate structural units. The organometallic material melts reversibly into a liquid crystalline fluid at a slightly lower temperature than the terpolymer. In external magnetic fields the tendency is for the backbone axis of the organometallic fluid to rotate away from the field direction. This observation suggests that strong interactions between the field and the paramagnetic units dictate the orientation of diamagnetic chemical sequences which normally align parallel to the magnetic field.