Mesomorphism of a series of aromatic single tail biphenyl-yl-4-(alkoxy) benzoate and 4-(benzyloxy)phenyl-4-(alkoxy)benzoate liquid crystalline materials

Liquid crystals are widely used in industry. The mesomorphism of two series of single tail ester liquid crystalline materials is reported in this study and compared structurally with a third series of molecules that do not display mesomorphism. The mesomorphic behavior of these two series was elucidated using polarized optical microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. For longer chain tails in both series, we found that the liquid crystals possess two mesophases namely nematic and smectic A, whereas shorter tail members of both series possess only a nematic phase and in one case no mesophase was observed.