The Thermotropic Liquid-Crystalline Properties of Some Straight Chain Carbohydrate Amphiphiles

Abstract

Abstract A variety of homologous 1-deoxy-1-(N-methylalkamido)-D-glucitols were prepared and their liquid crystal phases characterized. In this study the thermotropic liquid-crystalline properties of these materials are investigated. The mesophases formed are shown to be of the smectic A class with an interdigitated bilayer ordering of the constituent molecules. This ordering is thought to be stabilized by hydrogen-bonding between neighbouring carbohydrate moieties. The properties of these materials are compared with those of other closely related acyclic carbohydrates.