Properties of chiral liquid crystals with inner hydrogen bonds

Abstract

A sequence of tilted smectic phases, SmC-SmF-SmG-SmH, has been observed in a series of enamino ketone derivatives with a 2-methylbutoxy chiral terminal group. In spite of the rather weak chiral centre, these compounds are characterized by high spontaneous polarization (ca. 0.5 µC cm ^-2 ), which seems to be induced by the large molecular tilt (ca. 40°) observed in all mesophases. A memory effect in the switching process has been observed due to the formation of ion layers at electrodes. The high hydrogen ion concentration is a result of the dissociation of hydrogen bonded material under an applied electric field.