A Liquid-Crystalline Phenylene-Based Shape-Persistent Molecular Spoked Wheel

Molecular spoked wheels with an all-phenylene backbone and different alkoxy side chain substitution patterns were synthesized using a cobalt-catalyzed [2 + 2 + 2] cycloaddition and subsequent template-directed cyclization via Yamamoto coupling. The two-dimensional organization of the molecules at the solid/liquid interface was investigated by means of scanning tunneling microscopy, allowing imaging of the molecular structure with submolecular resolution. With the right proportion of the flexible alkyl corona to the rigid core, mesomorphic behavior of one compound could be observed over a wide temperature range.