Complex thermochromic phase transitions in three polydialkylsilanes with an oxygen atom in the side chain

Temperature investigations of the UV and Raman spectra of three polydialkylsilanes with an oxygen atom in the side chain have shown that all polymers studied undergo a thermochromic phase transition in the interval from+20 to −70 °C which is not abrupt but is kinetically limited; this transition is of the order–disorder type and is related to a change in the conformation of the polymer main chain from a disordered one to all-trans.