Spontaneous mirror symmetry breaking in a re-entrant isotropic liquid

Abstract

An achiral double-swallow tailed tetracatenar compound forms a re-entrant isotropic liquid between a bicontinuous cubic phase and a nematic liquid crystalline phase. This isotropic liquid was found to represent a conglomerate of two immiscible chiral liquids. The chirality is retained and eventually becomes uniform at the transition to the cubic I432 phase.