TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preparation (claimed): The calamitic mesogenic compounds are prepared by reacting a suitably substituted acetylene with an optionally substituted cyclohexanone in the presence of butyllithium; separating the isomers thus formed; esterification the tertiary alcohol of the isolated isomer with a suitable aromatic or aliphatic carboxylic acid; and coupling the resulting compound via its axial acetylenic substituent to an aromatic ring. Preferred Compounds: The calamitic mesogenic compounds are preferably one or more of 11 compounds, e.g. formula (Ia), (Ib) or (Ic), where the phenylene rings are optionally substituted by one or more groups L.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - POLYMERS - Preferred Properties: The birefringent polymer film has R450/R550 of less than 1, where R450 is an optical on-axis retardation at a wavelength of 450 nm and R550 is an optical on-axis retardation at a wavelength of 550 nm. Preferred Definitions:    D=one or more of 11 groups, e.g. 1,3,5-trisubstituted phenyl, 1,2,4,5-tetrasubstituted phenyl, hexasubstituted phenyl, or 2,7,9,10-tetrasubstituted phenanthryl;    -(B')q-=-CC-, -CC-CC-, -CC-CC-CC-, -CC-CC-CC-CC-, or one or more of 10 groups (e.g., formula (d));    r=0, 1, 2, 3, or 4;    L=P'-Sp-, F, Cl, Br, I, -CN, -NO2, -NCO, -NCS, -OCN, -SCN, -C(=O)NR0R00, -C(=)X, -C(=O)OR0, -C(=O)R0, -NR0R00, OH, -SF5, optionally substituted silyl, 1-12C aryl, straight chain or branched alkyl, alkoxy, alkylcarbonyl, alkoxycarbonyl, alkylcarbonyloxy or alkoxycarbonyloxy with 1-12C, where one or more H atoms are optionally replaced by F or Cl;    X=halo;    M=one or more of 4 groups, e.g. formula (IIa);    R", R"'=R1;    Z=Z1; and    U1=one or more of 5 groups, e.g. group of formula (e).    SPECIFIC COMPOUNDS - 2 Compounds (I) are disclosed, i.e. compounds of formula (1) or (2).    EXAMPLE - A round bottom flask was charged with an ester-compound of formula (1.4), 1,3,5-triiodobenzene, copper iodide, palladium bis(tetraphenylphosphonium) dichloride (Pd(PPh4)2Cl2) and triethylamine in tetrahydrofuran and treated with sonication before being heated with stirring at 50 degrees C under nitrogen for 72 hours. After cooling, the reaction mixture was acidified by adding dilute hydrochloric acid (HCl), and the organic layer was separated and washed with water. The organic layer was dried using sodium sulfate, and concentrated to give brown oil. The oil was purified using silica gel column chromatography eluting with ethyl acetate-petrol 40-60 degrees C (1:10). The fractions containing the product were collected to give a dark down solid which was redissolved in dichloromethane and added to stirring acetonitrile pre-cooled to - 20C. The dark brown precipitate was collected and recrystallized from ethyl acetate/denatured ethanol to give a yellow solid of calamitic mesogenic compound (1) (6.1% by HPLC, 22% yield).