Trihydrazone functionalized cyanopyridine discoids: synthesis, mesogenic and optical properties

A new series of trihydrazone functionalized cyanopyridine derivatives (CPTH-Dm) carrying 3,4-dialkoxyphenyl groups was designed and synthesized successfully as discotic columnar liquid crystals. These new discoid mesogens display hexagonal columnar phase with a wide mesophase range from ambient temperature to 110 °C and the observed columnar assembly is due to the presence of intermolecular hydrogen bonds and π-π interactions in them. Their optical studies reveal that the compounds are good blue light emitters and hence they are potential candidates for OLED device fabrication.