Smectic mesophase properties of dimeric compounds. 2. Distinct formation of smectic structures with antiferroelectric ordering and frustration

We have prepared two series of dimeric compounds, which comprise the schiff's base mesogen, alkyl spacer with the carbon number of 5 and alkyl or alkoxy tail with the carbon number of m = 4 similar to 16. In these compounds, we observed three types of smectic liquid crystals, the single layer phase with the tail group randomly mixing with the spacer, the bilayer phase in which the segregation of the spacer and tail groups takes place and so two mesogenic layers are included within a repeat unit, the frustrated smectic phase in which the density modulation appears along the layer as well as the layer normal. The bilayer phase was found to be antiferroelectric and the frustrated smectic phase was considered to result from the two dimensional escape from the dipolar interaction. The phase behaviour with m and the structure and properties of each phase will be described in detail.