Ferroelectric liquid crystals induced by dopants with axially chiral 2,2'-spirobiindan-1,1'-dione cores.

The axially chiral dopants (R)-5,5'-, 5,6'-, and 6,6'-diheptyloxy-2,2'-spirobiindan-1,1'-dione ((R)-2, -3, and -4) were synthesized in optically pure form, and their absolute configurations were assigned by the exciton chirality method using circular dichroism spectroscopy. These new compounds were doped in four achiral liquid crystal hosts to give chiral smectic C* (SmC*) phases with spontaneous polarizations (Ps) that vary with the core structure of the host. The spontaneous polarization induced by the 5,5'-dialkoxy derivative (R)-2 is uniformly positive, whereas that induced by the 6,6'-dialkoxy derivative (R)-4 is uniformly negative and shows a different trend in host dependence. Polarization power (delta(p)) values range from +21 nC/cm2 for (R)-2 in 2',3'-difluoro-4-heptyl-4' '-nonyl-p-terphenyl (DFT) to -1037 nC/cm2 for (R)-4 in 4-(4'-heptyl[1,1'-biphen]-4-yl)-1-hexylcyclohexanecarbonitrile (NCB76). The unsymmetrical dopant (R)-3 behaves like a hybrid of the two symmetrical isomers, with lower absolute values of delta(p), on average, and varying signs of Ps. 2H NMR spectra of the doped mixtures using racemic mixtures of 2-4 with -OCD2C6H13 side-chains, in combination with phase diagrams, show that relatively minor changes in the dopant structure, that is, moving the alkoxy side-chains from the 5,5' to the 6,6' positions of the spirobiindandione core, have profound effects on dopant-host compatibility, and on the propensity of the dopant to exert chiral perturbations in the host environment. The variations in sign and magnitude of delta(p) as a function of alkoxy group positions are rationalized based on an analysis of zigzag conformations that conform to the binding site of the SmC host according to the Boulder model.