Solid-state 13C NMR study of banana liquid crystals – 3: Alkyl-tail-group packing environments of an acute-angle bent-core molecule in the hexagonal columnar and cubic phases

• Solid-state NMR measurements were performed for the banana-shaped molecule.
• NMR spectra show that two alkyl tails have different packing structures.
• One of the tails has two different conformations within a single molecule.
• Both of the alkyl chains are located outside the cubic structure in the cubic phase.

Solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) measurements were performed on the hexagonal columnar and cubic phases of an acute-angle banana-shaped molecule, N(1,7)-S30. In the hexagonal columnar phase, three peaks appear at the NMR chemical shifts assigned to the internal methylene carbons of alkyl tails, indicating that the two alkyl tails have different packing structures, and one of the tails has two different conformations within a single molecule. Combined cross-polarization/magic-angle spinning and pulse saturation transfer/magic-angle spinning measurements show that one of the alkyl chains is located inside and the other is located outside the columnar structure. In the cubic phase, pulse saturation transfer/magic-angle spinning measurement shows that only one peak appears at the NMR chemical shifts assigned to the internal methylene carbons of alkyl tails, indicating that both of the alkyl chains are located outside the cubic structure.