Light absorption and hole-transport properties of copper corroles: from aggregates to a liquid crystal mesophase

Abstract

The synthesis of the corrole-based liquid crystal phase CorLC is described together with its full characterization using a combination of Polarised Optical Microscopy (POM), ThermoGravimetric Analysis (TGA), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) measurements and Small-Angle X-Ray Diffraction (SA-XRD), which shows that CorLC has a hexagonal columnar organization at room temperature. The light absorption and hole-transport properties of the mesophase CorLC are compared with those featured by assemblies of its parent meso-triaryl (Cor1) and per-aryl (Cor2) derivatives. J-Aggregates are replaced by H-aggregates when the intermolecular distance is increased by a higher peripheral steric hindrance producing lower hole-transport mobilities.