A novel biaxial smectic liquid crystalline phase formed by rodlike molecules with a 1,3-diazaazulene skeleton.
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.
Mori
Akira
A
Institute for Materials Chemistry and Engineering, Kyushu University, Kasuga-koen, Kasuga, Fukuoka 816-8580, Japan. mori-a@cm.kyushu-u.ac.jp
Yokoo
Masahiro
M
Hashimoto
Masashi
M
Ujiie
Seiji
S
Diele
Siegmar
S
Baumeister
Ute
U
Tschierske
Carsten
C