Chalcogen bonding and liquid crystallinity: understanding the anomalous behaviour of the 4'-(alkylthio)[1,1'-biphenyl]-4-carbonitriles (nSCB).

Cruickshank, Ewan; Strachan, Grant J.; Storey, John MD; Imrie, Corrie T.

Abstract

The synthesis and characterisation of the first eleven members of the 4'-(alkylthio)[1,1'-biphenyl]-4-carbonitriles series is reported. All eleven members show monotropic liquid crystal behaviour. The first six members are exclusively nematogenic, the seventh member shows nematic and smectic A phases, and the higher homologues only smectic A behaviour. A comparison of their transitional behaviour with that of the corresponding alkyl and alkyloxy-cyanobiphenyls reveals a new pattern of behaviour. Specifically, the nematic-isotropic transition temperatures show a large decrease on passing from the methylthio to ethylthio homologues. This unexpected behaviour is interpreted in terms of chalcogen bonding.

Citation

CRUICKSHANK, E., STRACHAN, G.J., STOREY, J.M.D. and IMRIE, C.T. 2022. Chalcogen bonding and liquid crystallinity: understanding the anomalous behaviour of the 4'-(alkylthio)[1,1'-biphenyl]-4-carbonitriles (nSCB). Journal of molecular liquids [online], 346, article 117094. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2021.117094

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 23, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jul 28, 2021
• Publication Date: Jan 15, 2022
• Deposit Date: Aug 17, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 21, 2023
• Journal: Journal of Molecular Liquids
• Print ISSN: 0167-7322
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 346
• Article Number: 117094
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2021.117094
• Keywords: 4-(Alkylthio)[1,1-biphenyl]-4-carbonitriles; Alkylthio; Nematic phase; Smectic A phase; Chalcogen bonding
• Public URL: https://rgu-repository.worktribe.com/output/2043845
• Additional Information: This article has been published with separate supporting information. This supporting information has been incorporated into a single file on this repository and can be found at the end of the file associated with this output.