Synthesis of bent-core azobenzene oligosiloxane end-groups induces to polar order in liquid crystalline phases by achiral molecules

Abstract

Anisotropic materials having potential applications in display and other devices, liquid crystals (LC) research has made significant progress during the last few decades. Owing to the attractive electro­optic switching characteristics, banana-shaped LCs has been attracted to the scientific attention enormously. The relationship between their molecular structure and their mesomorphic properties is one of the highly investigated research topics for bent core LCs. The polar order of these molecules, owing to their bent shape, displays interesting properties such as ferroelectric or anti-ferroelectric switching. The occurrence of superstructural chirality in the mesophase of bentcore compounds without having any chiral moiety in the molecules is not only of fundamental scientific interest but also of industrial application as this chirality can be switched in external electric fields. In this study, a new series of bent-core liquid crystals with oligosiloxane end-groups were synthesized and characterized.