Mixed Dimer Formation in Binary and Ternary Mixtures of Liquid Crystalline 4-Substituted Benzoic Acids

Mixed dimer formation is studied for a wide variety of 4-substituted benzoic acids that form liquid crystalline phases. The solid-mesophase transitions can show double eutectics when mixed dimer formation occurs, but in many cases the equilibrium constant for such a mixed dimer is extremely small. The mesophase-isotropic transitions are essentially linear over the entire phase diagram. Ternary mixtures can be created having nematic ranges of over 80° by virtue of eutectization.