High temperature ferroelectric liquid crystals

Liquid crystals at high temperature are useful for, among other purposes, broad temperature pressure sensors. In an attempt to design high-temperature smectic C phase materials, we synthesized a variety of mesogenic oligomers and polymers. We obtained, to our knowledge, 1) the first carbon-based smectic C main chain polymer, 2) the first imide-containing smectic C liquid crystal, 3) the third highest temperature smectic A phase reported (317 degrees C), and 4) the highest temperature chiral smectic A phase reported (304 degrees C).