Optically active polyurethanes (LPU and DPU) and racemic polyurethane (RPU) were synthesized by the self-polyaddition of the isocyanate-phenols which derived from the chiral and racemic tyrosine. All of the polymers were characterized by FT-IR, (1)H NMR, GPC, UV-Vis spectroscopy, circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, TGA and X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the infrared emissivity values were investigated in addition. LPU and DPU were two enantimorphs, they possessed helical configurations and higher degree of hydrogen bondings compared to the RPU which presented random coiled molecular chain. The crystallinity and thermal decomposition temperature of LPU and DPU were higher than that of the RPU due to the more regular secondary structure which facilitate the formation of a large number of inter-chain hydrogen bonds. Consequently, the LPU and DPU exhibited lower infrared emissivity values (8 -14 mu m), which came down to 0.611 and 0.625. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.