Synthesis and study of new liquid crystalline compounds with an epoxy group

Abstract

The influence of the transformation of a terminal double bond to an epoxide group in the series of compounds containing phenyl benzoate moiety as the mesogenic rigid core is investigated. The epoxide derivatives are obtained by biotransformation methods. The double bond or epoxide ring are separated by different numbers of methylene units from the phenyl ring of benzoic acid in its methoxy or decyloxyphenyl esters. The mesogenic properties of the synthesised compounds are investigated by optical microscopy, calorimetric and X‐ray methods. In contrast to methoxyphenyl esters most of decyloxyphenyl esters showed enantiotropic liquid crystalline behaviour. The replacement of the double carbon–carbon bond by the polar and bulky epoxy group destabilises the mesophase in almost all cases.

Keywords:

• nematic phase
• smectic phase
• liquid crystalline epoxides