ABSTRACT
New poly(propylene imine) (PPI) dendrimers modified at the periphery with mesomorphic 4-cyanobiphenyl units and cinnamate- or coumarin-based photoactive moieties were synthesised and structurally characterised. The photoactive moieties were structurally designed to be liquid crystalline compatible and to reduce the tendency towards crystallisation of the final material. Thermal and liquid crystal properties were studied by POM, DSC, TGA and XRD. The results show that all dendrimers displayed a smectic A mesophase. Dendrimers with high transparency in the visible region but with different absorption spectra were obtained, rendering materials that are easy to monitor in light-irradiation experiments.
GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank the Spanish Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (MINECO) and Fondo Europeo para el Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) (project numbers CTQ2012-35692, MAT2012-38538-CO3-01 and MAT2014-55205-P), and the Gobierno de Aragón and Fondo Social Europeo (FSE) (research group E04).
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Supplementary material
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.