Compounds in the liquid crystal phase possess less order than those in the crystalline phase and more order than those in the isotropic liquid phase. Liquid crystals are found in liquid crystal displays and are commonly applied in flat screen devices, including laptop computers, phones, and watches. Bent-core liquid crystals show unique liquid crystal phases, known as banana phases. The oxadiazole-based bent-core liquid crystals studied in our lab have only shown traditional nematic liquid crystal phases. Nevertheless, a subset of oxadiazole derivatives recently prepared by us, with lateral methyl and halogen groups, do show a unique type of banana phase along with the nematic phase. My focus was investigating how the position and identity of lateral groups inhibit or promote the presence of this banana phase. Synthetic details and the characterization of phase behavior will be discussed.

Effect of lateral halogen and methyl substituents on the phase behavior of bent-core liquid crystals

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