Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals with New Chiral Building Blocks

Esterification of 4-nitrocinnamoyl chloride by new chiral alcohols((d) and (1) 2-butanol; (d) 2-heptanol), followed by reduction of the nitro group by a new reagent(SnC1₂), gives new chiral 4-aminocinnamates.Condensation of these amines with 4-alkyloxybenzaldehydes or terephthaldehyde gives Schiff bases showing in some cases chiral smectic C phases. A comparative study of the mesomorphism of both these compounds and the compounds of the DOBAMBC family is made, in order to evaluate the effect of the chiral building block structure on the liquid crystalline properties.During this study, a new compound has been prepared, which exhibits the smectic O phase: ((d) 1-methylhexyl)terephthalidene Bis 4-aminocinna-mate.