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Liquid Crystal Design

 
 
We seek to functionalize expanded porphyrin cores with aliphatic groups to create molecules that are liquid crystalline. This new type of liquid crystalline material may have improved properties over other types of liquid crystals such as:

 Anion sensing
 Actinide sensing
 Magnetic switching

 
 
                                  We have recently reported the synthesis of the first expanded porphyrin liquid crystal, shown below:
 






 

Hydrazinophyrin at 95 °C on heating and after heating for 1 hour
Here is the crystal structure of hydrazinophyrin, a tetrapyrrolic, aromatic macrocycle
that has shown to have liquid crystalline properties


 Sessler, Jonathan L.; Callaway, Wyeth; Dudek, Stephen P.; Date, Richard W.; Lynch, Vincent; Bruce, Duncan W.  The first liquid-crystalline, expanded porphyrins.    Chemical Communications  2003, 19,  2422-2423

This work was done through a collaboration with Dr. Duncan Bruce at the University of Exeter.









 Page updated 1/25/04 by Patricia Melfi