Abstract
A new class of three-armed star-shaped liquid crystals 5a-5d were synthesized, they used 1,3,5-trihydroxybenzene as a core, ω-[4-(p-ethoxybenzoloxy) phenoxycarbonyalkyl acid (3a, 3b) and ω-[4-(p-nitrobenzoloxy) phenoxycarbonyalkyl acid (3c, 3d) as mesogenic arms. Their chemical structures were confirmed by FTIR and 1H NMR spectra. The mesomorphic properties and phase behavior were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarizing optical microscopy (POM) and thermogravimetric analyzer (TG) measurements. The results showed that the three-armed star-shaped liquid crystals exhibited a broad range of liquid crystalline phases at moderate temperature. The mesogenic arm structures obviously affected the phase behavior. As the intermedius alkyl chain of the star-shaped compounds lengthened (from n=4 to n=8), their melting points decreased but mesomorphic temperature ranges increased. The temperatures when 5% weight loss occurred (td) were higher than 300°C, which revealed that the synthesized three-armed liquid crystals had a high thermal stability. Threadlike, droplet and schlieren texture, typical of nematic phase can be observed in the liquid crystalline state during heating or cooling process.
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