Molecular Structures and Phase Transition Behaviour of Lambda-Shaped Liquid Crystals

Abstract

We reported that a novel lambda-shaped molecule in which a cyanobiphenyl and two phenylpyrimidine groups are connected to 3,4-dihydoroxybenzoic acid exibits an incommensurate SmA phase. In the present study, we have investigated effect of the spacer length on the phase transition behaviour. XRD studies indicated that the lambda-shaped compounds having lower spacers showed an interdigitated SmA phase but the compounds having longer spacers an intercalated one, suggesting that appearance of the incommensurate SmA phase results from competition between interdigitated and intercalated layer structures.