Self-assembly of chiral hexacatenar-bisamides into a columnar structure

Abstract

Several optically active hexacatenar-bisamides derived from α-amino acids such as L-/D-leucine, L-/D-valine or L-alanine have been designed, synthesized and characterized. They exhibit enantiotropic columnar liquid crystalline phase having a rectangular symmetry as evidenced by optical polarizing microscopy (OPM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction studies. Circular dichroism (CD) and FTIR experiments suggest the helical organization of these self-complementing bisamide molecules within the columns are connected through inter-molecular hydrogen bonds.