Novel triphenylenoimidazole discotic liquid crystals

A novel discotic core was constructed by fusing imidazole unit with well-known triphenylene discotic core. Two new imidazole fused unsymmetrically substituted triphenylene derivatives were prepared and characterized. While the molecular structures of the new compounds were verified by 1H NMR, UV, MS and elemental analysis, their liquid crystalline properties were determined by polarizing optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction studies. These triphenylenoimidazole derivatives were found to exhibit hexagonal columnar mesomorphism over a wide temperature range.

Imidazole fused triphenylene architecture was realized to function as a novel core for discotic liquid crystals. Two triphenylenoimidazole derivatives have been synthesized for the first time and their mesophase behavior has been investigated by polarized light microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and X-diffraction studies.