Order and dynamics of a liquid crystalline dendrimer by means of 2H NMR spectroscopy

A complete Deuterium NMR study performed on partially deuterated liquid crystalline carbosilane dendrimer is here reported. The dendrimer under investigation shows a SmA phase in a large temperature range from 381 to 293 K, and its mesophasic properties have been previously determined. However, in this work the occurrence of a biphasic region between the isotropic and SmA phases has been put in evidence. The orientational order of the dendrimer, labeled on its lateral mesogenic units, is here evaluated in the whole temperature range by means of H-2 NMR, revealing a peculiar trend at low temperatures (T < 326 K). This aspect has been further investigated by a detailed analysis of the H-2 NMR spectral features, such as the quadrupolar splitting, the line shape, and the line-width, as a function of temperature. In the context of a detailed NMR analysis, relaxation times (T-1 and T-2) have also been measured, pointing out a slowing down of the dynamics by decreasing the temperature, which determines from one side the spectral changes observed in the NMR spectra, on the other the observation of a minimum in the T1