Conformational Analysis in Solution of C2-Symmetric 1,1‘-Binaphthyl Derivatives by Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy and Cholesteric Induction in Nematic Mesophases

The twisting ability of a series of 1,1'-binaphthalene compounds used as dopants in nematic solvents has been related to the dihedral angle theta between the two naphthalene moieties. While in the case of the more flexible compounds the sign and value of the helical twisting power is affected by several structural features that prevent a simple assignment of the conformation, in the presence of a covalent bridge that restricts the rotation around the C(1)-C(1') bond a reliable estimate of the conformational helicity could be obtained. This technique is complementary to CD spectroscopy that, for the investigated molecules, presents the same exciton patterns irrespective of the actual theta value.