title: Helical packing of discotic hexaphenyl hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronenes: theory and experiment.
abstract: The arrangement of discotic hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronenes (HBCs) into columnar helical superstructures has been investigated in relation to their molecular architecture. The supramolecular structure of two hexaphenyl-substituted HBC derivatives, differing only in the chiral/achiral nature of the attached alkyl side chains, was studied by circular dichroism and temperature-dependent wide-angle X-ray diffraction on oriented filaments. A structural model in agreement with the experimental observations was developed on the basis of accompanying quantum-chemical calculations. The helical organization along the self-assembled columnar structures was induced by the steric requirements of the bulky phenyl rings near the aromatic core, i.e., by their rotation out-of-plane with respect to the aromatic core. On the other hand, a uniform handedness of the twist was generated by chiral alkyl substituents. At higher temperatures the degree of helical organization decreases due to lateral and longitudinal dynamics of the discotic molecules. Annealing at ambient conditions improved the long-range arrangement of the discs along the columnar structures. This reorganization indicated a self-healing of the plastic material which is desirable for application of discotics as active layers in electronic devices. The helical packing resulted in a considerable stability of the mesophase up to 500 degrees C, which has not been reported for a discotic so far.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Ackermannweg 10, D-55128 Mainz, Germany.
authors.forename: Wojciech
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Pisula
authors.forename: Zeljko
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tomović
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: Klaus
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Müllen
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kussmann
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ochsenfeld
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Metzroth
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gauss
mesh_terms: D002942:Circular Dichroism; D011083:Polycyclic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D011789:Quantum Theory; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D013696:Temperature; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D011083:Polycyclic Compounds; C507240:hexa-peri-hexabenzocoronene