Investigation of the Homologous Series of 4-Acetyl-4′-n-Alkanoyloxyazobenzenes by X-ray Diffraction

This paper reports an investigation by X-ray diffraction of the homologous series of liquid crystalline 4-acetyl-4′-n-alkanoyloxyazobenzenes. By using two independent parameters, namely the temperature and the paraffinic chain length, it was possible to obtain some structural information on two solid phases for comparison with a previously reported model for the S_A phase of the same series. In particular, the molecular layer thickness and, by using previously reported dilatometric data, the aromatic sublayer thickness, the methylene group thickness, the molecular area and the aromatic stem inclination angle were obtained for the different phases.