Achiral liquid crystals with an antiferroelectric-like phase

Abstract
A series of structurally similar achiral liquid crystalline materials exhibiting smectic phases, where the tilt alternates from one layer to the next in an antiferroelectric-like structure, have been prepared and their mesomorphic properties investigated. The compounds are 4-alkoxycarbonyl-2-fluorophenyl 4-alkyl/alkoxybiphenyl-4′-carboxylates possessing asymmetrically-branched peripheral alkyl moieties. The synthesis of the materials is described and the effect of simple structural modifications on the formation of the SmCalt phase is reported.

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