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From Molecules to Materials: Engineering New Ionic Liquid Crystals Through Halogen Bonding

From Molecules to Materials: Engineering New Ionic Liquid Crystals Through Halogen Bonding

Gabriella Cavallo, Duncan W Bruce, Giancarlo Terraneo, Giuseppe Resnati, Pierangelo Metrangolo

J Vis Exp. 2018 Mar 24;(133):55636.

PMID: 29630052

Abstract:

Herein, we demonstrate that a bottom-up approach, based on halogen bonding (XB), can be successfully applied for the design of a new type of ionic liquid crystals (ILCs). Taking advantages of the high specificity of XB for haloperfluorocarbons and the ability of anions to act as XB-acceptors, we obtained supramolecular complexes based on 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium iodides and iodoperfluorocarbons, overcoming the well-known immiscibility between hydrocarbons (HCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs). The high directionality of the XB combined with the fluorophobic effect, allowed us to obtain enantiotropic liquid crystals where a rigid, non-aromatic, XB supramolecular anion acts as mesogenic core. X-ray structure analysis of the complex between 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium iodide and iodoperfluorooctane showed the presence of a layered structure, which is a manifestation of the well-known tendency to segregation of perfluoroalkyl chains. This is consistent with the observation of smectic mesophases. Moreover, all the reported complexes melt below 100 °C, and most are mesomorphic even at room temperature, despite that the starting materials were non-mesomorphic in nature. The supramolecular strategy reported here provides new design principles for mesogen design allowing a totally new class of functional materials.

Chemicals Related in the Paper:

Catalog Number	Product Name	Structure	CAS Number	Price
AP35935343	1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium iodide		35935-34-3	Price

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