Abstract
Chiral liquid crystal trimers in which three different mesogenic units are connected via flexible spacers were prepared. We investigated their liquid-crystalline properties using polarized optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimeter, and X-ray diffraction. The trimer possessing a cyanobiphenyl unit showed a blue phase and a chiral nematic phase. On the other hand, that possessing a phenylpyrimidine unit was found to exhibit ferro-, ferri-, and antiferro-electric smectic C phases. X-ray studies revealed that the smectic phases have a monolayerd structure.
