**7. References**


<sup>\*</sup> Corresponding Author

Pfister D.P., Xia Y., Larock R.C. Recent Advances in Vegetable Oil–based Polyurethanes. Chem Sus Chem 2011; 4(6):703–17.

**Section 2** 

**Synthesis and Properties** 

Saunders K J. Organic Polymer Chemistry. 2nd Edn. New York: Chapman & Hall; 1981. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyurethane (accessed on 11th July 2012)

**Synthesis and Properties** 

16 Polyurethane

Chem Sus Chem 2011; 4(6):703–17.

Pfister D.P., Xia Y., Larock R.C. Recent Advances in Vegetable Oil–based Polyurethanes.

Saunders K J. Organic Polymer Chemistry. 2nd Edn. New York: Chapman & Hall; 1981.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyurethane (accessed on 11th July 2012)

**Chapter 2** 

© 2012 Mohammed and Hamidi, licensee InTech. This is an open access chapter distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2012 Mohammed and Hamidi, licensee InTech. This is a paper distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

properly cited.

utilized during the synthesis (Pachecho et.al., 2009).

**New Liquid Crystalline Polyurethane** 

**Elastomers Containing Thiazolo [5,4d]** 

Issam Ahmed Mohammed and Mohamed Rashidah Hamidi

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/36784

Iimura in 1981 (Lin et.al., 2001).

**1. Introduction** 

**Thiazole Moiety: Synthesis and Properties** 

Originally there are three states of matter; solid, liquid and gas. The emergence of an exotic and extraordinary form of matter, which is known as liquid crystal has been considered as one of the major breakthrough in polymer science. Liquid crystal can be defined as an intermediate of solid (crystal) and liquid (Knight & Vollrath, 2002) where the molecules have the capabilities to flow like a liquid (mobility) as well as possessing the common property associated to solid, which is the degree of order (Doldeny & Alder, 1998). In addition, liquid crystal materials are self assembling by nature and can offer a very elegant and effective way of controlling and tuning the physical properties that ultimately define the self-organizing and self assembly process (Zhang et.al., 2008). One of the exciting developments involving this unique material is the introduction of liquid crystalline behavior in polyurethane elastomers (PUE) where the first of this kind was synthesized by

Polyurethane [PU] is one of the most versatile class of polymeric materials known today. Wide variety of structural changes can be produced with the different hydroxyl compounds and isocyanates leading to a wide spectrum of properties and applications (Yeganeh et.al., 2007). It contains a high concentration of polar groups, in particular the urethane group, resulting from isocyanate-hydroxyl reactions. The interactions between these polar entities are of great importance in determining the properties of PU of all types (Lee et.al., 1999) besides the composition and characteristic of the polyol, diisocyanates and the additives

High toughness, excellent wear and tear properties and good oil resistance are among the advantages displayed by PUE (Wright & Cumming, 1969). Moreover, not only they have good mechanical and physical properties, PUE are also benefited with biocompatibility
