Liquid crystalline epoxy resins by polyaddition of diglycidyl ether of 4,4′-dihydroxybiphenyl and difunctional aromatic compounds

This work is a continuation of the authors' earlier investigations of liquid crystalline epoxy resins prepared from diglycidyl ether of 4,4'-dihydroxybiphenyl (DGE-DHBP), which was used as a mesogenic agent, and aliphatic dicarboxylic compounds, which were used as flexible spacers. In this paper, the synthesis and characterization of liquid crystalline epoxy resins, prepared from DGE-DHBP and difunctional aromatic compounds are described. Three series of liquid crystalline epoxy resins were prepared by chain extension of DGE-DHBP with isomeric hydroxybenzoic and benzene-dicarboxylic acids as well as diphenols. An isophthalic-terminated polyether was applied to decrease the temperature of phase transitions. The syntheses were carried out by catalytic polyaddition in the melt. Triphenylphosphine was applied as the catalyst. The resulting epoxy resins were investigated by DSC, polarizing microscope as well as by X-ray and IR spectroscopy. The phase transition temperatures and the type of mesophase of the resulting products depend on the character of the functional groups in the chain extender and on the position of the functional groups in the aromatic ring. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.