Liquid‐Crystalline Mesogens Based on Cyclo[6]aramides: Distinctive Phase Transitions in Response to Macrocyclic Host–Guest Interactions |
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| Authors: | Xiaowei Li Dr Bao Li Long Chen Jinchuan Hu Chengdanyang Wen Prof Qingdong Zheng Prof Lixin Wu Dr Huaqiang Zeng Prof Bing Gong Prof Lihua Yuan |
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| Affiliation: | 1. College of Chemistry, Key Laboratory for Radiation Physics and Technology of Ministry of Education, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610064 (China);2. State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, Jilin University, Changchun 130012 (China);3. State Key Laboratory of Structural Chemistry Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou, Fujian 350002 (China);4. Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, 31 Biopolis Way, The Nanos, Singapore 138669 (Singapore);5. Department of Chemistry, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260 (USA) |
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| Abstract: | Producing macrocyclic mesogens that are responsive to guest encapsulation presents a significant challenge. Cyclo6]aramides, a type of macrocycle with a hydrogen‐bond‐constrained backbone, exhibit thermotropic lamellar, discotic nematic, hexagonal, and rectangular columnar mesophases over a considerably wide temperature range, including at room temperature. Additionally, cyclo6]aramides show unusual mesophase transitions from lamellar to hexagonal columnar phase mediated by macrocyclic host–guest (H–G) interactions between the macrocycles and alkylammonium salts. The phase transition, triggered by an organic guest engaging in H–G interactions with a macrocyclic cavity, provides a novel strategy for manipulating the properties of liquid‐crystalline materials. The crystal structure of a homologous cyclo6]aramide reveals a disk‐shaped, near‐planar molecular backbone that facilitates intermolecular π–π stacking and leads to columnar assembly. |
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| Keywords: | host– guest systems liquid crystals macrocycles mesogens mesophase transitions |
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