λ-Shaped liquid crystal trimers with dual terminal cholesteryl moieties: synthesis and concomitant of N*, SmA and cholesteric glassy phases

<p>Two homologous series of λ-shaped chiral liquid crystal trimers composed of a laterally substituted benzylidene-aniline as the central core armed by two cholestryl ester moieties via odd-even alkyl spacer are synthesised. All the compounds are mesogenic exhibiting both chiral nematic (N*) and SmA phases except for trimers bearing long spacers (<i>n</i> = 9–10). A pronounced odd-even effect is observed on the phase transition temperatures and clearing enthalpies when the spacer length is varied in which the even-parity members show higher value. The widening of N* phase upon elongation of the alkyl spacer can be interpreted as a result of the destabilisation of SmA phase. Full recrystallisation from the cholesteric phase upon cooling is not observed for all the compounds bearing long spacer, especially oxydecanoyl spacer. Instead, the anisotropic fluid vitrified to form the cholesteric glassy state characteristic of polymer at low temperature. This finding is also evident from the polarising optical microscope whereby non-crystalline texture which resembles the Grandjean texture with various reflection colours is observed upon cooling to low temperature. The effect of the lateral substituents on the liquid-crystalline behaviour is also discussed.</p

Calamitic liquid crystals of 1,2,3-triazole connected to azobenzene: synthesis, characterisation and anisotropic properties

<div><p>Azobenzene-based calamitic liquid crystals<i>, 4-((4-(4-methoxymethyl-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)phenyl)diazenyl)phenylalkanoates</i> have been isolated and their structures were characterised. The structure–property correlation with respect to the different alkanoyloxy terminal chain (–COOC_nH_2n+1 where <i>n</i> adopts odd numbers ranging from 3 to 15) has also been given attention in the present study. In this series, all compounds exhibit smectogenic properties. The lower homologues shows enantiotropic SmA phase as well as monotropic SmC phase. The higher homologues exhibit homeotropic alignment of smectic phases. These compounds possess very high anisotropic inclination in which the mesomorphic region covers nearly 80°C.</p></div

Novel oxazepinedione-derived symmetric dimers: synthesis and mesophase characterisation of seven-membered heterocyclic compounds

<p>The synthesis and characterisation of three sets of symmetric dimeric compounds composed of seven-membered oxazepinedione heterocyclic rings were carried out. All the dimers possess the tetradecyl- (<i>n</i> = 14) alkyl side chain attached to the nitrogen atom of the oxazepinedione core. The oxazepinedione core in turn was connected with varied connecting spacers (<i>n</i> = 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12). The dimers were spectroscopically characterised by FT-IR, ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR and elemental analysis techniques. The compounds were investigated for liquid crystalline properties using differential scanning calorimetry and polarising optical microscopy with heating assembly. The precursor imines <b>2a–e</b> itself started exhibiting liquid crystalline SmA/tilted hexatic mesophase. Further fusion of <b>2a–e</b> with maleic anhydride, succinic anhydride and phthalic anhydride gave the novel oxazepinedione-derived symmetric dimers <b>3a–e, 4a–e</b> and <b>5a–e</b> respectively. The dimers <b>3a–e</b> and <b>4a–e</b> did not exhibit any liquid crystal (LC) properties. However, the phthalic anhydride-fused oxazepinediones <b>5a–e</b> show monotropic nematic liquid crystalline phase. The results indicate that the formation of mesophase is dependent on the type of fused oxazepinedione ring.</p

Liquid crystalline non-linear S-shaped oligomers consisting of azobenzene and biphenylene units: synthesis, characterisation and influence of central spacer

<p>A series of non-linear S-shaped liquid crystal oligomers wherein the molecule consists of biphenylene moiety as a central core unit and two symmetrical side arms azobenzene moieties joined to catechol as a linkage group have been successfully synthesised and characterised. The members in this series possess different inner spacer with carbon number n ranging from 4 to 9 while the outer spacer length located in azobenzene moieties are remains unaltered. The members with even parity exhibit monotropic phase, whereas homologues with odd parity display enantiotropic phase. The appearance of nematic, smectic A and smectic B phases was validated with texture observation under polarised light and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The XRD study on the S-shaped oligomer indicates that the arrangement of smectic phase exists as an intercalated structure. The S-shaped oligomer shows photoisomerisation properties in solution whereby the <i>trans</i> to <i>cis</i> isomerisation for this molecule is accomplished 1140 s, whereas reverse process under thermal back reaction occurred in 4620 min.</p

Non-symmetrical liquid crystal dimers armed with azobenzene and 1,2,3-triazole-cholesterol

<div><p>New non-symmetrical dimers which contain respective side units of azobenzene and 1,2,3-triazole-choloesteral have been synthesised from the reaction between 6-azido-[4-(4-acetylphenylazo)phenoxy]alkane and cholesteryl-4-(prop-2-ynyloxy)benzoate. The results show that the derivatives of 6-bromo[4-(4-acetylphenylazo)phenoxy]alkanes which possess the odd alkyl spacers exhibit dimesomorphism of N and SmA phases whilst the members with even numbers are non-mesogenic. However, the 6-azido-[4-(4-acetylphenylazo)phenoxy]-alkanes show N and SmA phases in a wide temperature range. On heating and cooling the target compounds cholesteryl 4-[(1-(6-(4-(4ʹ-acetylphenylazo)phenoxy)alkyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-4-yl)methoxy]benzoate show chiral nematic (oily streak and fan-shaped texture) and focal conic texture characteristics of smectic A phases with high thermal stability. Present investigation also reveals the effect of the spacer length upon the phase transition temperature. Intercalated arrangement is favoured by the molecules in the smectic phase. The observation is well established by XRD measurement wherein the actual molecular length is smaller than the theoretical value.</p></div

New heterocyclic metallomesogens: synthesis, mesomorphic and thermal behaviours of Cu(II) complexes with 1,2,3-triazole-based Schiff bases ligands

<div><p>Two series of new Cu(II) complexes derived from the reaction of copper acetate with the non-linear 1,2,3-triazole-based Schiff bases have successfully been synthesised. The structures of the ligands and its complexes were elucidated by elemental analysis, FT-IR, ¹H-NMR and UV–visible spectroscopic techniques. The differential scanning calorimetry and polarizing optical microscopy supported the anisotropic properties of uncoordinated ligands in which the focal conic fan-shaped texture and/or broken fan-shaped texture characteristics of respective SmA and SmC phases were recorded. However, not all of their corresponding Cu(II) complexes are mesogenic. Although the iodo-substituted ligands with even parity C₁₀H₂₉ to C₁₄H₃₃ are non-stable and exhibit SmA phase which is not reproducible, the ultimate Cu(II) complexes show exclusively stable SmA phase. This observation can be ascribed to the enhanced colinearity and molecular anisotropic by the presence of Cu-N and Cu-O coordination modes. On the other hand, the comparison studies show that different positions of <i>ortho</i>-hydroxyl group affect the mesomorphic and thermal behaviour of ligands and Cu(II) complexes.</p></div

Synthesis, mesomorphic and magnetic properties at room temperature of biphenyl ester-aromatic imine with terminal alkoxy chains and methoxy substituent

A series of calamitic biphenyl ester-aromatic imine derived from the reaction of 4-formylphenyl-4’-(alkyloxy)-[1,1’-biphenyl]-4-carboxylate and p-anisidine have been successfully synthesised and characterised. The general molecular structures of ultimate compounds show the central fragment made up by a hybrid core of biphenyl ester-aromatic imine in which the terminal alkoxy chains, CnH2n + 1 in which n = 7–12 were connected to biphenyl while the other end consists of methoxy moiety attached to a phenyl ring. All the target compounds under polarised lights exhibit enantiotropic nematic phase of which the temperature range was further supported by DSC analysis. It can be summarised that the lengthening of terminal alkoxy chains has contributed to the lowering of melting and clearing temperatures as well as the thermal stability of nematic phase. A dedicated magnetic characterisation analysis disclosed that apart from a dominant diamagnetic character these compounds possess a noticeable magnetic interaction despite knowing that the compounds belong to the non-metal and non-radical containing species.</p

Alkyl chain self ordering, induction and suppression of mesophase by Cu(II) containing [1,2,3]-triazole-based bidentate salicylaldimine ligands: synthesis, characterisation and X-ray diffraction studies

<div><p>Some new Cu(II) complexes containing [1,2,3]-triazole-based bidentate salicylaldimine and its analogues with terminal substituent (F, Cl, Br and I) have been synthesieed. All the target complexes and their uncoordinated ligands were elucidated by elemental analysis and spectroscopic techniques (UV-visible, FT-IR, 1D, 2D ¹H and ¹³C-NMR). The polarising optical microscope and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) have disclosed all complexes and ligands are mesomorphic except the complex without any terminal substituent. The fluoro-substituted complexes with even parity C₁₄H₂₉ and C₁₆H₃₃ exhibit new enantiotropic nematic phase which was absent in their corresponding ligands, whereas the suppression of SmC phase occurred for all complexes with longer C₁₆H₃₃ and C₁₈H₃₇. X-ray diffraction confirmed the existence of SmA, SmC and N phases for complexes and ligands. The other notable feature is that the self-ordering of terminal alkyl chain occurred in SmA and SmC phases of complexes with even terminal alkyl chain ranging from C₁₄H₂₉ to C₁₈H₃₃. Their corresponding ligands exhibit intercalated structure of SmA and SmC phases. The thermal behaviour studies show that the fluoro-substituted triazole-based complexes possess lowest phase transition temperature and more stable as compared to other substituent which decomposed during the isotropisation.</p></div