Abstract
1-Dodecyl, β-maltoside is an alkylated sugar which is commercially available and chemically similar to other alkylated sugars known to have smectic mescrphases. The maltoside differs from most other such compounds in that the sugar head has two rings, not one. It is shown that this material also has a mesophase, and that this mesophase is identical to that or dodecyl glucoside. The d-spacing or this phase is consistent with a model in which both rings or the heads are overlapped. The properties and some uses for this material are discussed.