Study of the Phase Situation in 4-n-pentylphenyl-4′-n-heptyloxythiobenzoate (7S5)

Abstract
Results of measurements of the specific heat of 4-n-pentylphenyl-4′-n-heptyloxythiobenzoate in the temperature range from about 90 K to about 370 K are presented. They were carried out with an adiabatic calorimeter, a differential scanning calorimeter and a polarizing microscope. Adiabatic calorimetry revealed four anomalies in the specific heat vs. temperature curve viz., two associated with transitions in the solid phase, one with melting and one with the liquid-crystalline nematic-to-isotropic phase transition. Also, two modifications of the solid, stable and metastable, were found to exist. In addition, the DSC method applied in the 285 K to 370 K range revealed a smectic C phase, but only when the sample is being cooled. The polarizing microscope showed the structural polymorphism of the solid phase in the 297 K to 327 K range to be more complex than would stem from adiabatic calorimetry and DSC measurements alone. It also confirmed the occurence of the Sc phase on cooling as ascertained by the DSC method.