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Updated: Dec 30, 2025

From Molecules to Materials: Engineering New Ionic Liquid Crystals Through Halogen Bonding
Published on: March 24, 2018
A Family of Amphiphilic Cyclodextrin Liquid Crystals Governed by Dipole-Dipole Interactions
Pier-Luc Champagne1, David Ester2, Sandra Ward3
1Alberta Glycomics Centre, Department of Chemistry, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive NW, Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada.
Abstract:
A novel family of amphiphilic cyclodextrin(CD)-based liquid crystals that bear O-acetylated oligoethylene glycol chains at the secondary face is reported. Unlike most of the previously reported liquid crystals (LC) based on chemically modified CDs, which depend on H-bonding as the primary intermolecular forces, the present CD derivatives self-assemble into highly ordered smectic liquid crystal phases via the weaker dipole-dipole intermolecular interactions. The obtained materials are found to display much improved properties such as improved thermostability, reduced clearing temperatures, and better fluidity. The present work opens up new possibilities to design CD-based LC materials.
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