Mesogenic behavior of a 6-oxoverdazyl diradical: towards organic high-spin liquid crystals

Abstract

A mesogenic building block based on a 6-oxoverdazyl diradical possessing a robust triplet ground state (ΔE_S–T = 1.06(2) kcal mol⁻¹) has been developed. Its substitution with partially fluorinated alkyl chains yielded a derivative, which is compatible with a SmA phase. Binary mixture studies in a structurally similar paramagnetic smectic mesogen revealed a virtual SmA–I transition temperature of 42 ± 3 °C. The building block was investigated using variable temperature EPR spectroscopy, SQUID magnetometry, and DFT computational methods.