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Abstract
A series of liquid crystalline terphenyls with three strategically located fluoro substituents has been synthesised and evaluated for a range of physical properties. Low temperature metallations were used to prepared arylboronic acids which were employed in selective palladium-catalysed cross-coupling reactions to generate the final liquid crystals. The syntheses are discussed as efficient routes to functional, multi-substituted liquid crystals. The trifluorot-erphenyls have low melting points and exhibit the smectic C phase to moderately high temperatures. The melting points, transition temperatures and mesophase morphology are discussed and compared with analogous difluoroterphenyls. The materials have been evaluated for a range of physical properties and enable the formulation of ferroelectric mixtures with a high dielectric biaxiality which is very important in τV minimum driving schemes.