Issue 25, 2013

A photoswitchable and thermally stable axially chiral dithienylperfluorocyclopentene dopant with high helical twisting power

Abstract

A chiral dithienylperfluorocyclopentene molecule bearing two bridged binaphthyl units was designed and synthesized by a Suzuki–Miyaura cross-coupling reaction between chiral binaphthyl iodide and dithienylperfluorocyclopentene-derived bis(boronic ester). Its photoresponsive properties were investigated in both organic solvent and liquid crystal media. The UV-vis spectra exhibited typical photochromic changes of diarylethenes upon UV irradiation. The CD spectral changes upon light irradiation indicated that the conformation of binaphthyl units and the chiroptical properties of this molecule could be modulated by light. More importantly, when using as a chiral dopant in nematic liquid crystals, this molecule could induce cholesteric liquid crystals with very high helical twisting powers. At very low doping concentrations, this dopant was able to induce a reversible isothermal phase transition between nematic and cholesteric phases upon light irradiation. The photochemical control of the pitch length of cholesteric phases at higher doping concentrations enabled the reversible reflection wavelength control in the visible region. Superior thermal stability and excellent fatigue resistance were also observed during the photoswitching process, which are important properties for applications.

Graphical abstract: A photoswitchable and thermally stable axially chiral dithienylperfluorocyclopentene dopant with high helical twisting power

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
03 ဧပြီ 2013
Accepted
10 မေ 2013
First published
10 မေ 2013

J. Mater. Chem. C, 2013,1, 3917-3923

A photoswitchable and thermally stable axially chiral dithienylperfluorocyclopentene dopant with high helical twisting power

Y. Li, M. Wang, A. Urbas and Q. Li, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2013, 1, 3917 DOI: 10.1039/C3TC30611A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements