New room temperature nematogens by cyano tail termination of alkoxy and alkylcyanobiphenyls and their anchoring behavior on metal salt-decorated surface

A series of cyano tail-terminated alkoxy and alkyl cyanobiphenyl compounds and some cyano-p-terphenyl derivatives were synthesized and mesogenic properties described. Comparison with the K series and M series indicates that the terminal cyano group generally enhances the supercooling of the molecules. Furthermore, several binary LC mixtures formed by the cyano tail-terminated compounds were found exhibiting promising room temperature nematic phases ranges comparable to the commercial quaternary mixture E7. The equimolar binary mixture of CN5OCB and CN7OCB shows homeotropic ordering at the metal salts-decorated surfaces and planar ordering at the free surface, which is consistent with G_BE values we calculated. As such, these materials are promising candidates for sensor devices which display a rapid response to a variety of analytes.