Synthesis and characterization of novel cholesterol derivatives with or without spacer

Cholesterol can be modified not only on C3OH, but also on C5C6. In this article, a new method was used to synthesize a series of novel cholesterol derivates, and the structures of these monomers were similar to those of mesogen-jacketed liquid crystal monomers without spacer. As comparison, types of soft-side-chain monomers with spacer were successfully synthesized in the analogical methods. After polymerization, the molecular structure and composition of those monomers and polymers were confirmed by 1H NMR, FTIR and Single Crystal Diffractometer. The molecular weight, distribution and thermal properties of the polymers were characterized by GPC, DSC, TGA, respectively. All the results proved that the polymers have excellent thermal stability, and the Tg of polymers without spacer is much higher than those with spacer.

► Cholesterol has two functional groups in skeleton, C3OH and C5C6. ► A series of novel cholesterol monomers based on double bond were synthesized. ► The monomers polymerized to corresponding polymers with or without spacer. ► All polymers behave good thermal stabilities.