Polar groups and arylsulfonamides: A good combination with which to obtain supramolecular columnar liquid crystals

Mesomorphic arylsulfonamide derivatives containing four long alkyl chains and polar groups (fluoro, cyano or amino) have been synthesized and characterized by polarized optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and X-ray diffraction on the mesophase. Studies of the supramolecular organization of these molecules have allowed a better understanding of the noncovalent driving forces (dipole··· dipole and hydrogen-bonding interactions) responsible for the self-assembly, which is mainly due to the presence of the polar groups.
Financial support from the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN), now: Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO) (grant numbers CTQ2011-22649, MAT2009-14636-C03-01, CTQ2009-09030, MAT2012-38538-C03-01, CTQ2012- 35692), Consolider INGENIO 2010 (grant numbers CSD2007-00006, CSD2006-00012), Generalitat de Catalunya (projects 2005SGR003305 and 2009SGR1441), Fondos Europeos para el Desarrollo Regional (FEDER) and the Aragon Government. The Generalitat de Catalunya is also gratefully acknowledged for predoctoral scholarship to A. Z. The authors also acknowledge the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona for a predoctoral scholarship to C. H.