Rewritable Photopatterning of a Bisanthracene-Functionalized Mesogenic Compound by Photodimerization and Thermal Back-Reaction of the Anthracene Moiety

Abstract

ABSTRACTA new method for photopatterning of a bisanthracene-functionalized mesogenic compound 1 was developed. The monomer 1 had two anthracene moieties on each molecular end, and showed crystalline and liquid-crystalline phases at room temperature and at an elevated temperature, respectively. Upon UV irradiation of 1 in the molten state, intermolecular photodimerization of the anthracene moieties was induced, and consequently resulted in the formation of a linear polymer. In contrast to the monomer 1, the obtained polymer exhibited amorphous phase at room temperature. When 1 was irradiated with UV light through a photomask in the molten state, the irradiated areas changed to amorphous phase due to photopolymerization, whereas the non-irradiated areas remained the ordered phase. This phenomenon provided visual images with a clear contrast under polarized light. In addition, the images could be erased by heating the whole sample at a temperature above ca. 200 °C, because the amorphous phase changed to the ordered phase due to a reproduction of the monomer 1 from the polymer associated with thermal back-reaction of the anthracene photodimer. Photopatterning could be performed for the erased sample again and the process was found to be fairly reversible.