Rational understanding of the structural features involving different noncovalent interactions is necessary to design a liquid crystal (LC) or an organogelator. Herein, we report the effect of the number and positions of alkoxy chains on the self-assembly induced physical properties of a few π-conjugated molecules. For this purpose, we designed and synthesized three C3-symmetrical molecules based on oligo(p-phenylenevinylene), C3OPV1-3. The self-assembly properties of these molecules are studied in the solid and solution states. All of the three molecules follow the isodesmic self-assembly pathway. Upon cooling from isotropic melt, C3OPV1 having nine alkoxy chains (-OC12H25) formed a columnar phase with two-dimensional rectangular lattice and retained the LC phase even at room temperature. Interestingly, when one of the -OC12H25 groups from each of the end benzene rings is knocked out, the resultant molecule, C3OPV2 lost the LC property, however, transformed as a gelator in toluene and n-decane. Surprisingly, when the -OC12H25 group from the middle position is removed, the resultant molecule C3OPV3 failed to form either the LC or the gel phases.
CITATION STYLE
Sandeep, A., Praveen, V. K., Shankar Rao, D. S., Krishna Prasad, S., & Ajayaghosh, A. (2018). Transforming a C 3-Symmetrical Liquid Crystal to a π-Gelator by Alkoxy Chain Variation. ACS Omega, 3(4), 4392–4399. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.8b00496
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