Highly congested liquid crystal structures: Dendrimers, dendrons, dendronized and hyperbranched polymers

Abstract

In this tutorial review we describe some studies concerning liquid crystal dendritic polymers. We have chosen to present several representative examples that illustrate the diverse kinds of LC dendritic structures, namely: dendrimers, dendrons, dendronized polymers and hyperbranched polymers. We review their synthesis, mesogenic properties and the way that they are arranged to form supramolecular liquid crystal assemblies. © 2007 The Royal Society of Chemistry.