Synthesis of laterally substituted bistolane liquid crystals

Methods for synthesizing bistolane liquid crystal materials with lateral me thyl and ethyl substituents are presented. Some of the bistolanes are nemat ic at room temperature. These highly conjugated mesogens exhibit wide nemat ic ranges, small enthalpies of fusion, high birefringence and modest viscos ity. Their potential applications for flat panel displays employing light s cattering or Bragg reflection and for infrared optically phased arrays are foreseeable.