A novel type of banana liquid crystals based on 1-substituted naphthalene-2,7-diol cores

The effect of lateral 1-substitution in naphthalene-2,7-diol with CH3, CN and Cl on mesomorphic properties is studied. DSC and X-ray diffraction, texture observation and dielectric measurements have been performed. For the non-substituted core the high-temperature BX phase and the B4 phase occur while in CH3 and Cl substituted compounds the B2 phases are found. In the CN derivatives, besides the crystalline-like phase N, the phase transition between the chiral B2 and racemic B2 phases is observed.