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Poly(4-hydroxycinnamic acid) (P4HCA), poly(3-hydroxycinnamic acid) (P3HCA), poly(3-methoxy-4-hydroxycinnamic acid) (PMHCA) and poly(3,4-dihydroxycinnamic acid) (PDHCA) were synthesized by the thermal poly-condensation of the corresponding monomers, which are lignin precursors, coumaric acid derivatives consisting of cinnamoyl groups and different position and number of OH groups. The solubility of the homo-polymers in organic solvents decreased in the order of P3HCA > PDHCA > P4HCA > PMHCA. The wide angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) results indicated that P4HCA or PMHCA with p-OH group had higher crystallinity, in contrast to P3HCA or PDHCA with m-OH group which had lower crystallinity. Crossed-polarizing microscopy suggested that P4HCA had the nematic liquid crystal properties at 220°C and PDHCA showed birefringence properties at 200°C. In cell-adhesion tests, PDHCA showed the highest cell adhesion (ca. 70%), whereas P3HCA, P4HCA and PMHCA had 50, 18 and 10% cell adhesion, respectively. The coumaric acid derivative homo-polymers can be useful as cell adhesion controllable thermotropic polymers for biomedical and environmental fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]