Physical and Thermal Characterizations of Newly Synthesized Liquid Crystals Based on Benzotrifluoride Moiety

Fowzia S Alamro; Hoda A Ahmed; Mohamed A El-Atawy; Muna S Khushaim; Noha S Bedowr; Rawan Al-Faze; Nada S Al-Kadhi

doi:10.3390/ma16124304

Physical and Thermal Characterizations of Newly Synthesized Liquid Crystals Based on Benzotrifluoride Moiety

Materials (Basel). 2023 Jun 10;16(12):4304. doi: 10.3390/ma16124304.

Authors

Fowzia S Alamro¹, Hoda A Ahmed², Mohamed A El-Atawy^{3

4}, Muna S Khushaim^{5

6}, Noha S Bedowr⁴, Rawan Al-Faze⁷, Nada S Al-Kadhi¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Cairo University, Cairo 12613, Egypt.
³ Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Ibrahemia, P.O. Box 426, Alexandria 21321, Egypt.
⁴ Chemistry Department, Faculty of Science, Taibah University, Yanbu 46423, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Taibah University, P.O. Box 30002, Al-Madina 41447, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Strategic Research Labs, Taibah University, P.O. Box 30002, Al-Madina 41447, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Taibah University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah 30002, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

The mesomorphic stability and optical activity of new group-based benzotrifluoride liquid crystals, (E)-4-(((4-(trifluoromethyl) phenyl) imino) methyl) phenyl 4-(alkyloxy)benzoate, or In, were investigated. The end of the molecules connected to the benzotrifluoride moiety and the end of the phenylazo benzoate moiety have terminal alkoxy groups which can range in chain length from 6 to 12 carbons. The synthesized compounds' molecular structures were verified using FT-IR, ¹H NMR, mass spectroscopy, and elemental analysis. Mesomorphic characteristics were verified using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and a polarized optical microscope (POM). All of the homologous series that have been developed display great thermal stability across a broad temperature range. Density functional theory (DFT) determined the examined compounds' geometrical and thermal properties. The findings showed that every compound is entirely planar. Additionally, by using the DFT approach, it was possible to link the experimentally found values of the investigated compounds' investigated compounds' mesophase thermal stability, mesophase temperature ranges, and mesophase type to the predicted quantum chemical parameters.

Keywords: DFT; benzotrifluoride; dimorphic; liquid crystals; physical characterizations.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by “Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University Researchers Supporting Project number (PNURSP2023R107), Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia”.