Thermotropic liquid crystals from planar chiral compounds: [2.2]Paracyclophane as a mesogen core

New thermotropic mesomorphic compounds containing a [2.2]paracyclophane (PC) unit were synthesized and investigated (Scheme). Carboxylic acids were selected as the starting PC building blocks. The influence of structural features on the stability of the mesomorphic phases was studied (Figs. 1 and 2): for this purpose. the structures of the PC-carboxylate unit and the organic fragment of the aryl-ester moiety were varied systematically. Esters derived from PC-monocarboxylic acid did not exhibit liquid-crystalline (LC) properties, while diaryl PC-dicarboxylates favored mesomorphism. Dicarboxylate substituents arranged in the paraposition provided LC phases in a broad temperature range and considerably increased the mesomorphic interval in comparison with that of the structurally related pseudo-para PC derivatives.