Krivoshey A. Chiral arylidene derivatives of 3-methylcyclohexanone: synthesis, structure, mesomorphysm and behaviour in liquid crystal systems

Investigation objects: chiral unsaturated ketones - 3(R)-methylcyclohexanone mono- and bis-arylidene derivatives. Purpose: development of the synthetic methods for the unsaturated ketones, 3(R)-methylcyclohexanone derivatives, possessing bi- and terphenyl as well as ester moieties, their spatial structure and its influence on mesomorphysm and behaviour in the induced cholesteric systems establishment Methods: UV, 1H NMR and mass-spectroscopy, high perfomance liquid chromatography, polarizing microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, small-angle X-ray scattering, electro-optics of liquid crystals, selective light reflection spectroscopy, semiempirical quantum chemistry methods AM1 and PM3 as well as density functional theory. Structural features responsible for unsaturated ketones possessing fixed s-cis-configuration mesomorphic properties and their twisting properties in the nematic liquid crystal medium have been estimated. 3(R)-methyl-6-arylidene-cyclohexanone Z-isomers are the most prospective for the highly effective chiral dopants for nematic liquid crystals design. Prospects of these compounds for their use at the highly photo- and thermo-stable cholesteric liquid crystal compositions with selective visible light reflection have been shown as well. Degree of application: results and conclusions of the work are used in further investigations at the department of optically active organic compounds of Institute for scintillation materials of Ukrainian NAS as well as in the course of liquid crystals at the chair of functional materials of the department of chemistry of the V.N. Karazin Kharkiv national university.