Citation: Md Lutfor Rahman, Gurumuthy Hegde, Shaheen M. Sarkar, Mashitah Mohd Yusoff. Synthesis and photoswitching properties of azobenzene liquid crystals with a pentafluorobenzene terminal[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2014, 25(12): 1611-1614. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2014.06.025 shu

Synthesis and photoswitching properties of azobenzene liquid crystals with a pentafluorobenzene terminal

1.
Faculty of Industrial Sciences & Technology, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Kuantan 26300, Malaysia

Corresponding author: Md Lutfor Rahman,
Received Date: 24 February 2014
Available Online: 12 June 2014
Fund Project: This research was supported by UMP Research (No. RDU 100338) (No. RDU 100338)also RAGS (No. RDU131408). (No. RDU131408)

The fluorine-substituted benzoate ester rod-shaped liquid crystals containing an azobenzene side chain linked with terminal double bonds were synthesized and characterized. The mesophase and photoswitching properties were determined by polarizing optical microscopy (POM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and UV-visible spectrometry. The rod-shaped compound 4a having an odd number of carbon atoms in the alkyl chains exhibits nematic phase and SmA type phase whereas compound 4b having an even number of carbon atoms showed only nematic phase. Both fluorinecontaining compounds 4c and 4d showed only SmA type phases. The photoswitching properties of these compounds showed a rate of trans to cis isomerization ranging 19-20 s, whereas reverse process took around 230 min in solution. These materials may be ideal in the field of optically rewritable applications where both on and off rates should be crucial.
- Liquid crystals,
- Azobenzene,
- Photoswitching,
- Fluorine compounds
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沈阳化工大学材料科学与工程学院沈阳 110142