Liquid Organic Frameworks: The Single-Network "Plumber's Nightmare" Bicontinuous Cubic Liquid Crystal

J Am Chem Soc. 2020 Feb 19;142(7):3296-3300. doi: 10.1021/jacs.9b11073. Epub 2020 Feb 7.

Abstract

Novel bolapolyphiles, built of a p-terphenyl or bistolane core with polar glycerol end-groups and two laterally attached n-alkyl or semiperfluoroalkyl chains, form the first "single plumber's nightmare network", the simplest soft-matter cubic phase (Pmm). Its cage-like grid comprises bundles of aromatic rods lying along the cubic unit cell edges, connected by six-way hydrogen-bonded junctions. Side-chains fill the remaining volume of this unique noninterpenetrating liquid-crystalline organic framework.