Issue 33, 2015

Dielectric and optical anisotropy enhanced by 1,3-dioxolane terminal substitution on tolane-liquid crystals

Abstract

Four series of 1,3-dioxolane-terminated liquid crystals were prepared via multi-step reactions based on 4-alkylcyclohexanecarboxylic acids. Their structures were confirmed by infrared spectrometry (IR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and mass spectrometry (MS). Their properties were measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarising optical microscopy (POM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Abbe refractometer and an electrical constants instrument. The results show that the positive dielectric anisotropy and birefringence of the tolane-liquid crystals are increased significantly by an introduction of 1,3-dioxolane as a terminal group. The application of the 1,3-dioxolane-terminated liquid crystals in the mixture was investigated and the results show that lower threshold voltage, wider nematic range and higher birefringence are obtained when compared to the mixture containing liquid crystals with buty-3-enyl as a terminal group. The lateral fluoro substituent, alkyne-bridge and 1,3-dioxolane terminal group enhance the stability of the nematic mesophase and the solubility of the corresponding compounds in the common host liquid crystal mixture. Meanwhile, DFT calculations of dipole moments and molecular polarizabilities were used to correlate the experimental findings.

Graphical abstract: Dielectric and optical anisotropy enhanced by 1,3-dioxolane terminal substitution on tolane-liquid crystals

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
11 Jun 2015
Accepted
24 Jul 2015
First published
24 Jul 2015

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2015,3, 8706-8711

Author version available

Dielectric and optical anisotropy enhanced by 1,3-dioxolane terminal substitution on tolane-liquid crystals

R. Chen, Y. Jiang, J. Li, Z. An, X. Chen and P. Chen, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2015, 3, 8706 DOI: 10.1039/C5TC01712B

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