Synthesis and Characterization of Cholesterol-Based Liquid Crystals Linked with Perfluorinated Alkyl Chains

Two cholesterol-based liquid crystalline materials were synthesized by incorporating perfluorinated acyl chains of different lengths with the help of epichlorohydrin and copper(I)-mediated azide-alkyne 2+3 dipolar cycloaddition chemistries. These materials were characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, cross-polarized optical microscopy and powder X-ray diffraction. The compound with the longer perfluorinated chain exhibited a smectic A (SmA) phase as confirmed by XRD and POM, while the shorter-chain derivative exhibited diffraction peaks suggestive of both simple SmA* ordering as well as lamellar solid phase exhibiting multilayer ordering.