Effect of a bulky lateral substitution by chlorine atom and methoxy group on self-assembling properties of lactic acid derivatives

Several chiral liquid crystalline materials derived from the lactic acid have been studied with the aim to establish the effect of bulky lateral substituents on their self-assembling properties. A chlorine atom and methoxy group have been used as lateral substituents in ortho position to ether group position on phenyl ring far from the chiral centre. All the studied materials possess tilted ferroelectric smectic C* phase in a broad temperature range. In dependence on the molecular structure namely type of lateral substituent and length of the chiral chain, the cholesteric mesophase, orthogonal paraelectric smectic A* and crystal mesophases have been detected. Lateral chlorine substitution results in decrease of both the clearing point and crystallisation temperature as well as in a distinct increase of spontaneous polarization. Bulky methoxy substitution slightly suppresses the spontaneous polarisation but strongly increases the melting point that results in monotropic peculiarity of the SmC* phase. Mesomorphic, spontaneous, structural and dielectric properties of the substituted compounds were established and compared to those of the non-substituted ones in order to contribute to better understanding of the structure–property relationship for such chiral self-assembling materials.