Photo-Asymmetric Synthesis of Helicenes in Liquid Crystals

Abstract

Photo-asymmetric synthesis of pentahelicenes have been carried out in liquid crystals. The objective of this investigation is to study the feasibility of using polyhelicenes as tunable chiral materials in the color pixelation of reflective cholesteric displays (RCDs). Since the pitch of a cholesteric liquid crystal phase can be changed by the addition of a small amount of chiral compounds, in-situ photo-asymmetric synthesis in display cells provides a valuable method in the modification of liquid crystal properties. We describe herein attempts to use linearly//circularly polarized light to modify the pitch and hence, the color of a RCD.