STRUCTURES, PROPERTIES AND MISCIBILITY BEHAVIOR OF LIQUID-CRYSTALLINEPOLYCATENAR TETRONE DERIVATIVES

The tetrones represent an interesting new mesogenic building block. Th e results of this study show that they can be incorporated into a vari ety of mesophases. A smectic phase was observed in the polycatenar com pound with four terminal chains as expected. The phase exhibits a tilt ed structure (S-C phase) to prevent void formation. The compound with six pendant chains forms a columnar phase. In spite of their structura l similarity, the tetrones studied tended not to be completely miscibl e. However, complete miscibility with a semi-discoid phenylhydrazone w as observed. When this hydrazone, which forms a columnar 'D-ho phase', was mixed with tetrone which forms a columnar 'D-hd phase' a columnar hexagonal phase was produced with enhanced stability. We believe that the stability enhancement derives from a charge transfer interaction between the tetrone and the phenylhydrazone.