The thermotropic and lyotropic liquid-crystalline properties of acetoacetoxypropyl cellulose

Acetoacetoxypropyl cellulose, formed by the acetoacetylation of hydroxypropyl cellulose using a diketene/acetone adduct at elevated temperature, forms both thermotropic and lyotropic liquid-crystalline phases. DSC and hot-stage polarized light microscopy confirmed the thermotropic nature of the bulk polymer. Thin layers showed green reflection colors at room temperature. The wavelength λ₀ of selective reflection was measured spectrophotometrically. The crystalline structure of the polymer was investigated using x-ray diffraction. A lyotropic mesophase formed in acetic acid at ≥ 40 wt% polymer. The value of λ₀ for the lyotropic cholesteric mesophase was determined by optical rotatory dispersion (ORD) and circular dichroism (CD) of a thin layer of a wholly anisotropic solution.     

Preparation and liquid-crystalline properties of toluene-4-sulphonyl urethane of hydroxypropylcellulose

Abstract

A novel liquid-crystalline polymer, the toluene-4-sulphonyl urethane of hydroxypropylcellulose (TSUHPC), was prepared through chemical modification of hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC) of M_w = 60000 g mol^?1. The resulting polymer was characterized by infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarizing microscopy. It was found that thermotropic liquid crystal phases are formed between about 60°C and 110°C. Concentrated solutions of TSUHPC in acetone and N,N-dimethylacetamide exhibit cholesteric behaviour, at room temperature. When approaching the lyotropic mesophase to solid transition, either by cooling or by solvent evaporation, very interesting arborescent structures of a seemingly fractal nature may be observed, depending on the kinetics of the transition. A banded texture can be observed when the polymer is sheared near the transition to the isotropic phase.     

A self-diffusion study in aqueous solution and lyotropic mesophases of amphiphilic block copolymers

 Water-soluble poly(ethylene oxide)–poly(propylene oxide)–poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO–PPO–PPO) triblock copolymers are high-molecular-weight nonionic copolymers and form micellar solutions and liquid-crystalline mesophases in water. We studied the temperature dependence of polymer and water self-diffusion in solutions and lyotropic mesophases of the PEO₁₃ PPO₃₀ PEO₁₃/water and PEO₂₁ PPO₄₇ PEO₂₁/water binary systems. The self-diffusion measurements were performed by means of the pulsed field gradient spin-echo NMR method. The analysis of the water mobility was realised using “the obstruction factor” and “the two-site model”, which consider the reduction of the water self-diffusion due to the microstructure of the lyotropic aggregates and to the presence of one part of the solvent bound to the polymer aggregate surfaces. We calculated the water obstruction factors and the hydration numbers as a function both of the polymer composition and of the temperature. The results are compared with the data obtained in mesophases formed by classical surfactants. Received: 16 September 1999 Accepted in revised form: 24 November 1999     

The Self-Assembly of a Lipophilic Deoxyguanosine Derivative and the Formation of a Liquid-Crystalline Phase in Hydrocarbon Solvents

The lipophilic 3′,5′-di-O-decanoyl-2′-deoxyguanosine ( 1 ) in CHCl₃ undergoes extensive self-assembly, mediated by H-bonding between the guanine bases, to give ribbon-like aggregates. X-Ray investigation of the platelets obtained from CHCl₃ reveals a disordered fibre-like structure consisting of stacks of the ribbon-like aggregates. The aggregates are completely different from the columnar structures, based on G-quartets, which are the building blocks of the mesophases formed by deoxyguanosine oligonucleotides in H₂O. In pure hydrocarbons or in CHCl₃/hydrocarbons, 1 forms a lyotropic liquid-crystalline phase.     

Synthesis and liquic crystalline properties of copper tetra-4-(n-alkoxycarbonyl)phthalocyanines

Copper tetra-4-(n-alkoxycarbonyl)phthalocyanines were synthesized, and their thermotropic and lyotropic mesomorphism at different lengths of lateral substituents was studied. Their possibility of forming both thermotropic and lyophilic mesophases (amphotropy) was found. The length of lateral substituents affects the type of supramolecular packing in the mesophase rather than the temperature of the crystal→mesophase phase transition. A rarecase of the mesogeneity of disk-like compounds of the same chemical nature possessing only four substituents is discussed. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 1, pp. 129–136, January, 2000.     

Synthesis and liquic crystalline properties of copper tetra-4-(n-alkoxycarbonyl)phthalocyanines

Copper tetra-4-(n-alkoxycarbonyl)phthalocyanines were synthesized, and their thermotropic and lyotropic mesomorphism at different lengths of lateral substituents was studied. Their possibility of forming both thermotropic and lyophilic mesophases (amphotropy) was found. The length of lateral substituents affects the type of supramolecular packing in the mesophase rather than the temperature of the crystal→mesophase phase transition. A rarecase of the mesogeneity of disk-like compounds of the same chemical nature possessing only four substituents is discussed. Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 1, pp. 129–136, January, 2000.     

Lyotropic mesomorphic formation of cellulose in trifluoroacetic acid-chlorinated-alkane solvent mixtures at room temperature

Mixtures of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA)-1,2-dichloroethane (1,2-DCE); TFA-dichloromethane (CH₂Cl₂); and TFA-trichloromethane (CHCl₃) are excellent cellulose solvents at room temperature. TFA-1,2-DCE and TFA-CH₂Cl₂ are superior to pure TFA. Lyotropic cellulose mesophases were obtained in (20% w/v) solutions of cellulose in these solvent mixtures. The optical and optical rotatory powers of the solutions suggest that the lyotropic mesophase of cellulose is cholesteric. This implies that cellulose molecules are arranged in helical form in these solvent systems.     

Liquid-Crystalline Behaviour in the n-Alkyl Gluconamides and Other Related Carbohydrates

Abstract

Many alkyl derivatives of carbohydrates are used as detergents for cell wall membranes. This study describes the liquid-crystalline properties of a number of these systems. The combination of a hydrophilic carbohydrate moiety and a hydrophobic aliphatic substituent leads to the formation of both thermotropic and lyotropic liquid-crystal mesophases. Materials with this structural combination are suspected to form interdigitated bilayer smectic A phases. The central core region of the layer is held together by dynamic hydrogen-bonding between the neighbouring carbohydrate moieties, whereas the terminal aliphatic chains create fluidity between layers.     

Amphotropic liquid crystals

The liquid crystalline state is a fundamental organization of matter, which combines order and mobility on a molecular, supramolecular and macroscopic level. In many cases the molecules can show both thermotropic and lyotropic liquid-crystalline (LC) phases, which is described as amphotropic behavior. Block-copolymers, polyhydroxy amphiphiles, disc-like, rod-like, polycatenar and banana-shaped LC molecules are discussed with respect to their amphotropic behavior with specific and non-specific solvents. The interactions of salts with polyether chains, leading to halotropic mesophases, and the interaction of aromatic electron acceptor molecules with electron-rich aromatic molecular parts are discussed in relation to lyotropic mesomorphism induced by classical solvent molecules. Polyphilic amphotropic materials showing more complex mesophase morphology and amphiphiles showing a hierarchical order of different levels of order are pointed out as future directions.     

Preparation and cholesteric mesophase properties of (Butyl-co-pentyl) propylcellulose

Butyl and pentyl ether derivatives of (2-hydroxypropyl) cellulose (HPC) and butyl/pentyl mixed ethers of HPC (BPPC) with different alkyl compositions were prepared in nonaqueous solution and their thermotropic cholesteric properties examined. The temperature dependence and the composition dependence of the optical pitch, nP, were then determined for all of the ether derivatives. The molecular conformation and chirality of BPPC appeared to be to be variably smooth with the side chain composition of the polymer. The response rate of cholesteric configurational change of the thermotropic mesophases arising from a temperature jump from 45  to 75 °C, was also determined. The transformation of the cholesteric mesophase formed by an equimolar ether derivative (BP-50) was faster than that of the cholesteric one formed by a single-alkyl (pentyl) ether derivative (BP-0). This seemed to be a general result reflecting a pseudo-copolymer effect of cellulose derivatives on the properties of their thermotropic cholesteric mesophases.     

Copper 2,9(10),16(17),23(24)-and 1,8(11),15(18),22(25)-tetra-(4-carboxyphenoxy)phthalocyanines and their esters: The synthesis and liquid-crystalline properties

Copper 2,9(10),16(17),23(24)-and 1,8(11),15(18),22(25)-tetra(4-carboxyphenoxy)phthalocyanines and their carboxylic esters were synthesized and their spectral characteristics and liquid-crystalline properties were studied. 2,9(10),16(17),23(24)-Tetrasubstituted complexes exhibit both thermotropic and lyotropic mesomorphism in mixtures with a number of organic solvents. Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 6, pp. 991–1000, June, 2006.     

Electron and light microscopical investigation of defect structures in mesophases of pharmaceutical substances

 Transmission electron microscopy of freeze fractured and replicated samples (TEM) and polarizing light microscopy (PLM) are used to investigate the defect structures of the thermotropic and lyotropic mesophases of the non-steroidal antiinflammatory drug fenoprofen sodium and of the thermotropic mesophase of the nonionic surfactant sucrose oleate (O1570). All mesophases have a layered, smectic structure. The thermotropic liquid crystal of feno-profen sodium is an interdigitated smectic A phase (smectic Ad) having the highest viscosity of the investigated samples. The thermotropic mesophase of the sugar ester is also of the type smectic A, likely to be of subtype smectic A2 (bilayered smectic structure). The lyotropic mesophase is of lamellar liquid crystalline nature and has a much lower viscosity than the thermotropic mesophases. In the PLM the lyotropic fenoprofen mesophase has a strong tendency to form a pseudoisotropic texture, indicating a strong tendency to form undisturbed layered structures. Other textures exhibited in the PLM are fan-shaped texture and maltese-cross texture. Confocal domains, cylinders, pits and peaks as well as screw dislocations are found in great number in the TEM. However, no greater regions of undisturbed lamellar arrangement in the lyotropic mesophase could be detected. The only texture of the thermotropic fenoprofen mesophase visible in the PLM is the fan-shaped texture, indicating confocal domains as predominant structural elements. However, no confocal domains (tori or Dupin cyclides) are found in the TEM. In the PLM the sugar–ester mesophase exhibited a fan-shaped texture, maltese crosses and oily streaks as dominant textures. In the TEM only a few +π and −π disclinations and imperfect confocal domains could be detected. The discrepancies in the appearance of defect structures and textures between the mesophases as well as the discrepancies in the findings in the PLM and in the TEM investigations are caused by the different sample preparation and the different viscosities of the mesophases. Received: 28 May 1997 Accepted: 2 September 1997     

The rz structure of 1,2,5-selenadiazole partially oriented in ordered mesophases as determined by PMR spectra including 13C and 77Se satellites

The proton magnetic resonance spectra of 1,2,5-selenadiazole together with the natural abundance ¹³C and ⁷⁷Se satellites have been obtained and analysed in two lyotropic mesophases and in a thermotropic mesophase. The r_z structure of the molecule has been obtained.     

Synthesis and liquid-crystalline properties of thermotropic polyamides containing flexible rodlike units and aliphatic spacers

New polyamides with high molecular weights consisting of flexible rod-like mesogenic units (4,4'-diphenyl and 3,4'-diphenyl moieties having bent linkages in the central parts) and aliphatic spacers were synthesized and the thermotropic liquid-crystalline properties were investigated. Differential scanning calorimetry, texture observations by polarizing microscopy, miscibility tests and X-ray analysis suggested that the polymers showed well-defined thermotropic smectic mesophases. The polyamides containing 4,4'-diphenyl moieties had higher transition temperatures and formed more stable liquid-crystalline phases than the polyamide composed of the 3,4'-diphenyl unit with a kinked bond.     

Lyotropic liquid-crystalline mesophases and a novel,solid physical form of some water-soluble,reactive dyes

Abstract

A novel, solid physical form has been observed when some water-soluble, reactive dyes are isolated from aqueous solution, as sodium salts, by the addition of sodium chloride. This quasi-crystalline form has a fibrous morphology, is birefringent but is not crystalline. Dyes of this type are known to form lyotropic liquid-crystalline mesophases in water. Preliminary X-ray diffraction investigations, reported here, for the mesophases formed by two such dyes indicate that they have columnar structures of the type first proposed for the lyotropic mesophases of the disodium chromglycate/water system and subsequently for other drug and dye molecules. X-ray and electron diffraction studies of the quasi-crystalline form show that it has a closely related columnar structure. The quasi-crystalline form is postulated to result from the formation and subsequent precipitation of columnar dye aggregates, as sodium chloride is added to the aqueous dye solution.     

Silylation of Cellulose and Starch – Selectivity, Structure Analysis, and Subsequent Reactions

The silylation of cellulose and starch under different starting conditions is reviewed. The control of the degree of substitution (DS) and regioselectivity in dependence of the reaction pathway are discussed in detail. The synthesis of trimethylsilyl cellulose (TMSC) in the system hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS)/ammonia leads to partially and completely silylated products controlled by the amount of the components. Hydrolytic desilylation of TMSC in tetrahydrofuran (THF)/ammonia gives the partially desilylated products. The desilylation proceeds statistically along the polymer chains. The reaction of cellulose dissolved in N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMA)/LiCl with bulky thexyldimethylchlorosilane (TDSCl) in the presence of imidazole leads to 2,6-di-O-TDS cellulose. The silylation of starch dissolved in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) with TDSCl/pyridine results in the formation of regioselectively 2-O and 6-O functionalized silyl ethers with DS values up to 1.8. 6-O Silyl ethers of cellulose and starch were synthesized with TDSCl highly activated in the reaction system N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP)/ammonia. Two- dimensional NMR techniques after subsequent modifications of the remaining OH groups have been established as important methods for the characterization of the substitution pattern of the described silyl ethers. In the case of starch, the distribution of the substituents could be detected not only in the anhydroglucose units (AGU) but also in the non-reducing end groups (NEG).     

Characterization and flow properties of lyotropic ultrahigh-molar-mass polysaccharide mesophases

The occurrence of lyotropic mesophases in solutions of various polysaccharides, such as non-ionic schizophyllan and anionic xanthan, was demonstrated by means of polarizing microscopy. In contrast to synthetic polymers where the formation of liquid-crystalline phases has been attributed to the presence of mesogenic groups in the main- or side-chain, here a helical structure is a prerequisite for the formation of mesophases. It was then shown that the stability of the helix is dependent on the chemical structure and the arrangement of the side groups. Apart from their optical anisotropy, some lyotropic mesophases are distinguished by extraordinary viscous and elastic properties (e.g. maximum behaviour of viscosity). The viscoelastic material functions were determined by rheological methods. A precise characterization of the chemical and steric microstructure should provide information on the ability of polysaccharides to form mesophases. Determination of the chemical microstructure (quaternary polymer) was carried out by ¹H NMR spectroscopy after ultrasonic degradation. Low- and multi-angle laser light scattering were employed for the determination of the steric microstructure which indicates an expanded semi-flexible structure. The experimental results were compared with those from molecular modelling.     

Preparation and liquid-crystalline properties of toluene-4-sulphonyl urethane of hydroxypropylcellulose

A novel liquid-crystalline polymer, the toluene-4-sulphonyl urethane of hydroxypropylcellulose (TSUHPC), was prepared through chemical modification of hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC) of M_w = 60000 g mol^-1. The resulting polymer was characterized by infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarizing microscopy. It was found that thermotropic liquid crystal phases are formed between about 60°C and 110°C. Concentrated solutions of TSUHPC in acetone and N,N-dimethylacetamide exhibit cholesteric behaviour, at room temperature. When approaching the lyotropic mesophase to solid transition, either by cooling or by solvent evaporation, very interesting arborescent structures of a seemingly fractal nature may be observed, depending on the kinetics of the transition. A banded texture can be observed when the polymer is sheared near the transition to the isotropic phase.     

Synthesis and mesomorphic behaviour of comb-like polymers based on lipopeptides with two hydrophobic chains

Abstract

Polymerizable lipopeptides with two hydrophobic chains were synthesized and transformed into comb-like polymers by radical polymerization. The structure of dry polymerizable lipopeptides and comb-like polymers and of their aqueous solutions was determined by X-ray diffraction. Comb-like polymers exhibit both thermotropic and lyotropic properties. Three types of mesomorphic structure were resolved: smectic B, smectic A and cylindrical hexagonal. The domains of stability of the mesophases and the values of their structural parameters were established.     

Structural study of the smectic phases of several 4-cyanoalkoxybenzylidene-4'-alkylanilines

Abstract

A series of 4-cyanoalkoxybenzylidene-4'-alkylanilines (CN-nO. m; n = 3, 4, 6 and m = 4, 5, 8) have been synthesized. Their thermotropic liquid-crystalline polymorphism has been investigated using optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and dilatometry. Nematic, smectic A and smectic B mesophases have been identified. The structure of the smectic phases has been studied with X-ray diffraction. Depending upon the compound and the temperature, the smectic layers have been found to be either single (A₁) or double (A₂) layers of molecules. Unexpected from a simple comparison with the well-known behaviour of the very similar nO. m smectogens, which belong to the class of the so-called symmetric and therefore exhibit single-layered smectics only, this structural behaviour has been interpreted to mean the importance of the dipole interactions of the terminal cyano groups. For CN-60.8, a transition has been detected at 64°C between the single and double layered structure.