Mesophase induction was observed in binary mixtures of the liquid-crystalli
ne lanthanum(III) dodecanoate and a nonmesomorphic lanthanide(III) dodecano
ate. The compounds have the stoichiometry La(x)Ln(1-x)(C11H23COO)(3) (where
x is the mole fraction of lanthanum, Ln = Nd, Eu, Ho, Tb, and Yb) and were
characterized by elemental microanalysis. The thermal behavior was investi
gated by hot-stage polarized optical microscopy, by differential scanning c
alorimetry, and by X-ray diffraction at elevated temperatures. The mesophas
e behavior of the compounds strongly depends on the composition of the mixt
ures and on the lanthanide ion. For lanthanum-europium dodecanoate mixtures
, less than 4 mol % lanthanum(III) dodecanoate is needed to induce mesomorp
hism, whereas for lanthanum-ytterbium mixtures, the minimum amount of lanth
anum(III) dodecanoate increases to 48 mol %.