Apolar bimesogens and the incidence of the twist-bend nematic phase

TY - JOUR

T1 - Apolar bimesogens and the incidence of the twist-bend nematic phase

AU - Mandle, Richard J.

AU - Davis, Edward J.

AU - Archbold, Craig T.

AU - Voll, Constantin C A

AU - Andrews, Jessica L.

AU - Cowling, Stephen J.

AU - Goodby, John W.

PY - 2015/5/18

Y1 - 2015/5/18

N2 - The nematic twist-bend phase (NTB) was, until recently, only observed for polar mesogenic dimers, trimers or bent-core compounds. In this article, we report a comprehensive study on novel apolar materials that also exhibit NTB phases. The NTB phase was observed for materials containing phenyl, cyclohexyl or bicyclooctyl rings in their rigid-core units. However, for materials with long (>C7) terminal chains or mesogenic core units comprising three ring units, the NTB phase was not observed and instead the materials exhibited smectic phases. One compound was found to exhibit a transition from the NTB phase to an anticlinic smectic C phase; this is the first example of this polymorphism. Incorporation of lateral substitution with respect to the central core unit led to reductions in transition temperatures; however, the NTB phase was still found to occur. Conversely, utilising branched terminal groups rendered the materials non-mesogenic. Overall, it appears that it is the gross molecular topology that drives the incidence of the NTB phase rather than simple dipolar considerations. Furthermore, dimers lacking any polar groups, which were prepared to test this hypothesis, were found to be non mesogenic, indicating that at the extremes of polarity these effects can dominate over topology.

AB - The nematic twist-bend phase (NTB) was, until recently, only observed for polar mesogenic dimers, trimers or bent-core compounds. In this article, we report a comprehensive study on novel apolar materials that also exhibit NTB phases. The NTB phase was observed for materials containing phenyl, cyclohexyl or bicyclooctyl rings in their rigid-core units. However, for materials with long (>C7) terminal chains or mesogenic core units comprising three ring units, the NTB phase was not observed and instead the materials exhibited smectic phases. One compound was found to exhibit a transition from the NTB phase to an anticlinic smectic C phase; this is the first example of this polymorphism. Incorporation of lateral substitution with respect to the central core unit led to reductions in transition temperatures; however, the NTB phase was still found to occur. Conversely, utilising branched terminal groups rendered the materials non-mesogenic. Overall, it appears that it is the gross molecular topology that drives the incidence of the NTB phase rather than simple dipolar considerations. Furthermore, dimers lacking any polar groups, which were prepared to test this hypothesis, were found to be non mesogenic, indicating that at the extremes of polarity these effects can dominate over topology.

KW - Liquid crystals

KW - Self-assembly

KW - Structure-property relationships

KW - Twist-bend nematic phase

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84929330856&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1002/chem.201500423

DO - 10.1002/chem.201500423

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84929330856

SN - 0947-6539

VL - 21

SP - 8158

EP - 8167

JO - Chemistry : A European Journal (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)

JF - Chemistry : A European Journal (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)

IS - 22

ER -