Three types of polymer, a photoalignment material based N- (phenol)maleimide were synthesized and the liquid crystal (LC) aligning capabilities on the photopolymer layer were studied. A good LC alignment with UV exposure on the PMI5CA(N-(phenol)maleimide with 5-carbon chain cinnamoyl group) can be obtained. However, the LC alignment defects were observed on the PM13CA (N-(phenol)maleimide with 3-carbon chain cinnamoyl group) and PMIF (N-(phenyl)maleimide including fluoro cinnamoyl group). Also, the good LC alignment with UV exposure on the PM15CA surface was observed at until $150^{circ}C$ of annealing temperature. The LC aligning ability on the photopolymer layer based N-(phenol)maleimide depends on the side chain length of photopolymer.