Theory of molecular deformations and mesomorphic behavior of dendrimers

We present a simple statistical theory of anisotropic fluid phases consisti ng of deformable molecules and we use it to describe the self-organization of liquid crystalline dendrimers in the limit of very densely attached meso genic units. We perform calculations for model-systems of spherical molecul es that can deform into rod-like or disc-like states and we determine their mesomorphic range as a function of molecular shape parameters and intrinsi c conformational probability.