Liquid crystal organization of calix[4]arene‐appended schiff bases and recognition towards Zn2+

The synthesis and liquid crystalline behavior of new calixarene Schiff base derivatives are reported. The materials were obtained by reaction of a tetraaminocalix[4]arene derivative with three aldehydes as mesogenic promotor moieties: 4‐(4′‐decyloxybenzoyloxy)benzaldehyde (A), 4‐(4′‐decyloxybenzoyloxy)salicylaldehyde (B) and 4‐(3′,4′‐didecyloxybenzoyloxy)salicylaldehyde (C). All of the compounds exhibit liquid crystalline properties and these were studied by optical microscopy, DSC and X‐ray diffraction. The relationship between the structure and the mesomorphic behavior of the compounds is discussed. The binding recognition and selectivity towards cations have been studied by absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy.
This work was supported by MINECO Spain, under the Projects CTQ2015‐70174P and CTQ2014‐52331R, FEDER funding and Gobierno de Aragón‐FSE (Research Group E04 and E39). A. Concellón thanks MINECO (Spain) for his PhD grant.