The phase diagram of a macromolecule containing mesogenic groups

A model of a macromolecule incorporating rod-like mesogenic groups in a flexible non-corporal chain either as branches or as parts of the main chain is examined. The properties of both these models having long chains will be identical when the appropriate parameters are selected. The coil-globule transition will take place in long chains above the θ-point and is of first order as to phase; it is accompanied by an orientational rearrangement of the rods inside the globule. The metastable, isotropic state is also examined and a range found in which an isotropic globule is likely to exist.