Design of Supramolecular Liquid-Crystals utilizing Pseudo-rotaxane Structure Formation

Abstract

Supramolecular liquid crystals allow for a wider molecular design approach for liquid crystallinity expression and the creation of material functions utilizing the introduced supramolecular system nature. In this study, we report a novel supramolecular liquid crystal based on pseudo-rotaxane structures. By threading an isotropic axle molecule as a mesogen core with an isotropic ring molecule as flexible tails, the resulting [2]pseudo-rotaxane showed thermotropic liquid crystallinity. Reflecting the characteristics of pseudo-rotaxanes, which are capable of reversible association and dissociation, our supramolecular liquid crystals exhibit phase transitions involving a temperature-dependent reversible macroscopic phase separation.