Thermodynamic properties of chiral liquid crystalline material (S)-4-(2-methylbutyl)-4′-cyanobiphenyl (5*CB)

As a part of a project of clarifying the physical properties and dynamics of cyanobiphenyls with chiral molecules, thermodynamic properties of (S)-4-(2-methylbutyl)-4′-cyanobiphenyl (5*CB) were investigated by adiabatic calorimetry between T = (5 and 350) K. The complicated phase behaviour was solved and the thermodynamic functions were determined. A new glass transition was identified in the phase II (metastable crystal) at T = 105 K. No inversion of the stability between two crystalline phases was found, being contrary to the expectations from the previous neutron scattering studies.