Self-Organized Columnar Phase of Side-Chain Liquid Crystalline Polymers: To Precisely Control the Number of Chains Bundled in a Supramolecular Column.

Self-organization of liquid crystalline (LC) polyacetylene derivatives (PAs) bearing hemiphasmid side-chains was investigated. The synthesized PAs can form smectic and columnar phases, depending on the constitutions of side chains. With a nanosegregation structure, the columnar phase of PAs takes a bundle of chains as its building block, of which the chain number is precisely determined by the volume fraction of the rigid component in PAs. The "precise multi-chain column" can be understood using a mean field theory, from which the deduced number of chains in the supramolecular column agrees well with the experimental result. This study reveals that the volume fraction of the rigid component plays a significant role in the self-organization of side-chain LC polymers, which is valuable for the rational design of macromolecules with precisely ordered structures.