Supramolecular transformation from ordered columnar to disordered columnar to tetragonal micellar structures in clicked dodeca-alkylated discotic triphenylene liquid crystals

Sequential phase transformation of propeller-like C3-symmetric liquid crystals from a helical to ordered to disordered hexagonal columnar structure

In this paper, we report thermally induced intercolumnar phase transitions of C3-symmetric liquid crystals (LCs) bearing a triazole-based propeller-like aromatic mesogen. Since the constituting aromatic rings are conjugated through rotatable single bonds, the mesogenic shape is tuneable depending on the degree of conformational motion. Molecule 1 with ninefold octyl peripheries shows a hexagonal columnar liquid crystalline phase transition from ordered mesogenic stacking to disordered mesogenic stacking upon heating. On the other hand, molecule 2 with sixfold octyl peripheries displays a helical hexagonal columnar phase with the P6/mmm space group at ambient temperature as well as the ordered and disordered hexagonal columnar phases at higher temperatures. The intracolumnar helical order can be understood by an interdigitated stacking of the propeller-like mesogens along the columnar axis and the optimized space-filling. Notably, all the intercolumnar phase transformations in this study are revealed as second-order transitions. The thermodynamic nature agrees well with the fact that the conformational motions of the C3-symmetric aromatic mesogen change abruptly with each columnar transition.

Monoclinic to two-dimensional hexagonal transformation in hexacatenar molecules with a 1,2,3-triazole-based conjugated rod: morphology-dependent thermochromic behavior

Novel hexacatenar molecules based on a 1,2,3-triazole-extended aromatic rod self-assemble into crystalline monoclinic and liquid crystalline hexagonal columnar structures depending on temperature. The phase transition may involve a conformational change from an anisotropic transoid to a half-disk cisoid conformer upon melting. In a hexacatenar molecule with sixfold octyl chains, the crystal-to-LC transition accompanies a photoluminescence color change from sky blue to dark blue, which is attributed to the formation of higher-order aggregates in the crystalline state.