Synthesis and photoswitching properties of bent-shaped liquid crystals containing azobenzene monomers
Three novel bent-shaped monomers, namely 1,3-phenylene bis-{4-[4-(n-allyloxyalkyloxy)phenylazo]benzoate} 5a-c, containing azobenzene as side arms, resorcinol as central units and terminal double bonds as polymerisable functional groups were synthesised and characterised. The mesophase behaviour was investigated by polarising optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction measurements and it was found that all three compounds display SmAintercal mesophases. These bent-shaped molecules exhibit strong photoisomerisation behaviour in solutions in which trans to cis isomerisation takes about 50 seconds whereas the reverse process takes almost 31 hours.
Keywords: azobenzene; bent; cis-trans isomerisation; photonics; photoswitching; shaped monomers
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: 1: School of Science and Technology, University Malaysia Sabah, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia 2: Raman Research Institute, C.V. Raman Avenue, Sadashivanagar, Bangalore, India 3: Institute of Organic Chemistry, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany 4: Liquid Crystal Physics Group, Gothenburg University, Goteborg, Sweden
Publication date: 01 April 2009
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