Optical Rotatory Power in the Isotropic Phase of Four Cholesteryl Esters

Recent theoretical work by numerous authors has indicated that pretransitional properties of the isotropic phase are highly dependent on the chirality of the nearby ordered phase. To test this aspect of the theories, we present results on the optical rotatory power in the isotropic phase for a series of four cholesteryl esters of varying chirality. The most important finding is that the separation between the first and second order transition temperatures decreases with an increase in chirality. However, the results of a recent experiment which claimed to present evidence for strong coupling between the structural modes of the ordered phase are not substantiated by the new measurements reported here.