ABSTRACT:Two new liquid crystalline polysiloxanes with very wide mesomorphic temperature range have been prepared. One containing 4-[(S)-2-methyl-l-butoxy]phenyl 4-hexanyloxybiphenyl-4'-carboxylate side groups displays enantiotropic smectic A, chiral smectic C and smectic B phases. The other containing (S)-2-methyl-l-butyl 6-(4-undecanyloxybiphenyl-4'-carbonyloxy)-2-naphthalenecarboxylate side groups exhibits only an enantiotropic cholesteric phase. Both mesomorphic polysiloxanes were used as stationary phases in gas chromatography capillary columns. They show very unique separating properties for various isomeric halogenated naphthalene compounds, methylanthracene compounds, fatty acid methyl esters and polycyclic aromatic compounds.KEY WORDS Liquid Crystalline Polymers / Mesomorphic Polysiloxanes / Gas Chromatography / Liquid Crystal Stationary Phases / Thermotropic side-chain liquid crystalline polysiloxanes were first synthesized by Finkelmann and Rehage. 1 Since then, nematic, smectic and cholesteric liquid crystalline polymers, and elastomeric liquid crystalline networks containing polysiloxane backbone 2 -11 have been synthesized. Some of the synthetic works summarized above has been already reviewed. 12 -15 Interest in the polysiloxane backbone for the preparation of side-chain liquid crystalline polymers (LCPs), comes from the low glass transition temperature and high thermostability exhibited by this class of polymers.Recently, high temperature mesomorphic polysiloxane "solvents" have demonstrated excellent potential as stationary phases in gas chromatography (GC) because of their superior properties with regard to chromatographic efficiency and thermal stability. 16 -29 The use * To whom all correspondences should be addressed.of liquid crystals as stationary phase in GC was first reported by Kelker in 1963. 30 · 31 This field has been extensively reviewed. 32 -34 Unlike conventional stationary phases that provide separation based on solute vapor pressure and/or different solubility arising from specific energetic interactions, liquid crystal stationary phase yield separation based upon differences in solute molecular shape. Although the properties exhibited by many monomeric liquid crystals are good from the point of view of GC requirements, polymeric liquid crystals are attracting growing attention because they offer significant improvements in column efficiency as well as thermal stability over monomeric liquid crystals.In this work, the synthesis of a new chiral smectic and a new cholesteric liquid crystalline polysiloxanes which can be used as GC stationary phase over a wide temperature 153