Nematic conformation of oxyethylene spacers involved in main‐chain liquid crystals

2 HNMR measurements were performed on main‐chain dimer and polymer liquid crystals (LC) having oxyethylene (OE) spacers ‐(OCH 2 CH 2 ) x O‐(x=2, 3). The orientational as well as conformational characteristics of these molecules have been investigated in bulk and in a nematic solution. The OE spacer was found to take spatial arrangements characteristics of the nematic phase. The nematic conformation of the spacer remains nearly invariant over a wide range of temperature and concentration. In these analyses, the ratio of the deuterium quadrupolar splittings Δ ν /Δ ν R (Δ ν : spacer and Δ ν R : mesogenic unit) provided an important information regarding the spatial configuration of molecules in the LC state. The results obtained in this study are consistent with our previous conclusion drawn on a series of main‐chain LC oligomers and polymers comprising n‐alkane spacers ‐O(CH 2 ) n O‐ (n=9, 10).