Quantified chirality, molecular similarity, and helical twisting power in lyotropic chiral nematic guest/host systems

Lyotropic liquid crystals can exhibit phase chirality. The mechanism behind the transfer of chirality between a chiral dopant and a liquid crystalline host phase is still under discussion. Our own recent results and proposals are the following. Lyotropic phase chirality can exist even at very low co ncentrations of chiral dopants, with less than 1 chiral dopant per 50 micel les. There is evidence for an intramicellar double twist which could be due to the induction of chiral conformations in the achiral surfactant chains. The chirality of arbitrary molecules can be quantified by means of the 'Ha usdorff distance'. Increasing chirality of a dopant does not necessarily im ply increasing helical twisting power, and molecular similarity between chi ral guest and achiral host is essential for effective chirality transfer.