Bay-Annulated Perylene Tetraesters: A New Class of Discotic Liquid Crystals

Selenium-annulated perylene tetraesters that stabilize the hexagonal columnar phase have been synthesized and characterized, and their thermal and photophysical behavior has been determined. The mesophase range decreased with an increase in chain length. A comparative account of the structure-property relationships of this series of compounds with respect to parent perylene tetraesters, N- and S-annulated perylene tetraesters, in terms of their thermal, photophysical and electrochemical behavior is provided. The bay-annulation of perylene tetraesters is a good option to modify the thermal and photophysical properties of perylene derivatives and it can provide a new avenue for the synthesis of several technologically important self-assembling perylene derivatives.