Interdigitated smectic A and B mesophases in higher homologues of the 5O.m series

Abstract

We report the synthesis, characterization and structural studies of the higher homologues of N(4-n-pentyloxybenzylidene)4-n-alkylaniline compounds, viz. 5O.12, 5O.14 and 5O.16 by thermal microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction. The compounds exhibit N–S_A–S_B, N–S_A–S_B and N–S_A phase sequence variants, respectively. The X-ray results reveal the existence of an interdigitated smectic A phase in 5O.16 and smectic B phase in 5O.14. Results are discussed in light of the available data on the nO.m series