Ferroelectric, liquid-crystalline polymers, a process for their preparation and their use in electrooptical components

Abstract

A ferroelectric, liquid-crystalline polymer is composed of repeating units of the formula (I) ##STR1## in which Y.sup.1 =H, CH.sub.3 or F Y.sup.2 =H or F R.sup.1 = ##STR2## or an achiral alkyl having 2 to 16 carbon atoms, and R.sup.3 =H or CH.sub.3 R.sup.2 =CH.sub.3, Cl or CN g and h=an integer from 0 to 10 a=2 to 20, preferably 6 to 12 b,c,d,e and f=0 or 1, where d+e+f=2 or 3 A.sup.1,A.sup.2 and A.sup.3 =for example, 1,4-phenylene in which one or two hydrogen atoms may be substituted by F, Cl and/or CN, 1,4-cyclohexylene and M.sup.1,M.sup.2 and M.sup.3 =for example, CO--O or O--CO. These liquid-crystalline polymers have short response times and high resistance to mechanical stresses. They can be prepared by free-radical polymerization.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.