Abstract
The first examples of V-shaped liquid crystalline materials made of non-symmetrical molecules are reported. They belong to a homologous series of azo substituted compounds, wherein the two arms attached to the 1,2-positions of the benzene ring are different. The new compounds are characterised by the spectroscopic methods. The liquid crystalline properties are investigated using polarising optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction studies. All the compounds synthesised here are found to be liquid crystalline. They exhibit nematic and smectic A mesophases, which are uniaxial in nature. The preliminary qualitative experiments showed that the compounds are photosensitive. Based on the X-ray results, the molecular arrangement of these compounds in their mesophases is illustrated. A relationship between molecular structures to mesomorphic properties in such systems has also been predicted.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Prof. V.A. Raghunathan and Dr Arun Roy for useful discussions during the X-ray study.