Crystal Structures and Liquid Crystal Behaviors of Mesogenic Naphthalenes

Abstract

In order to obtain information about intermolecular interactions controlling mesophases, we have tried to find the relationship between crystal structures and liquid crystal behavior. Crystal structures have been determined for two 2,6-disubstituted naphthalene derivatives with highly planar core moreties: 4-octylphenyl 6-octyloxy-2-naphthoate (I) and 6-octyloxy-2-naphthyl 4-octyloxybenzoate (II). In both crystals, the largely overlapped core moieties stack alternately, leading to smectic-like layer structures. The tilt angles of long molecular axes were estimated to be 30° (I) and 50° (II), which are related to their mesophases, SmA and SmC, respectively.