NANOSTRUCURE FORMATION BASED ON THE FUNCTIONALIZED SIDE CHAINS IN LIQUID-CRYSTALLINE HETEROAROMATIC COMPOUNDS

Heteroaromatic skeletons are important functional units for optic and electronic materials. For the construction of novel functional soft matter, the self-assembled system utilizing the heteroaromatic molecules bearing various substituents provide an effective approach. Recently, a lot of liquid crystals and fibrous aggregates with electronic functions have been developed. Among them, liquid-crystalline (LC) semiconductors are well-known examples. LC semiconductors are hopeful candidates which cope with both carrier transport property and solubility. Although the optimization of the chemical structures of the central aromatic core has been mainly considered in the past study, side chains also play a key role to form the well-defined nanosegregated superstructures. The structural optimization of the side chains as well as the rigid cores contributes to the developments of the soft matter electronics. Herein, we will review the recent research trend on functional pi-conjugated liquid crystals focusing on the flexible side chains. Furthermore, we will describe the importance of the nanosegregation for the design of soft materials having electronic functions.