Synthesis and Phase Transitional Behavior of Dimer-like Optically Active Liquid Crystals

Abstract

The results of our detailed studies pertaining to a relatively new class of low molar mass mesogens are presented. Four homologous series of optically active dimer-like mesogens, comprising cholesterol as the conventional pro-mesogenic core covalently tethered to a nonmesogenic salicylaldimine segment through a flexible spacer of varying length and parity, have been synthesized and evaluated for their thermal, electrical switching, electrochemical, and gelation properties. The thermal behavior, being the prime focus of this study, has been characterized by optical, calorimetric, X-ray diffraction, and electrical switching studies. In each series, the length of the even/odd-parity spacer is held constant, while the length of the terminal N-alkyl tail attached to nonmesogenic salicylaldimine core has been varied to gain insight into the fundamental correlation between structure and phase transitional properties. These compounds, with a few exceptions, exhibit liquid crystal phase(s); the identified phases are chiral nematic (N*), twist grain boundary (TGB), chiral smectic A (SmA), and chiral smectic C (SmC*) phases. The selective reflection property of the N* phase and ferroelectric behavior of the SmC* phase have been ascertained for some selected members. In general, the phase behavior shows a dependence on the length and parity of the central spacer as well as the length of the terminal tail. The odd-even effect has been prominently found in the clearing temperatures; the even-parity dimer-like compounds belonging to three different series exhibit higher values when compared to members of an odd-parity series. Thus, our study demonstrates that these new class of low molar mass materials behave analogous to liquid crystal dimers. Electrochemical behavior and gelation ability have been demonstrated for some selected materials.