title: A novel biaxial smectic liquid crystalline phase formed by rodlike molecules with a 1,3-diazaazulene skeleton.
abstract: Novel rodlike liquid crystalline (LC) materials incorporating the nonbenzenoid aromatic 1,3-diazaazulene unit have been synthesized and investigated by polarizing microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and X-ray diffraction of oriented samples. Some representatives form, in addition to conventional SmC phases, a novel biaxial smectic LC phase, in which the rotation of the molecules around their long axes is greatly restricted. Attractive face-to-face interactions of the flat aromatic units lead to columnar aggregates which are organized in layers. As there is no positional correlation between adjacent layers, these mesophases are related to lamellar columnar phases formed by some disklike and boardlike molecules. Such LC materials may be promising candidates in the field of organic semiconductors, photoconduction, and other applications.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Materials Chemistry and Engineering, Kyushu University, Kasuga-koen, Kasuga, Fukuoka 816-8580, Japan. mori-a@cm.kyushu-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yokoo
authors.forename: Masashi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ujiie
authors.forename: Siegmar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Diele
authors.forename: Ute
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Baumeister
authors.forename: Carsten
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tschierske