JPC C Guru

Three-Ring-Based Thermotropic Mesogens with a Dimethylamino
Group: Structural Characterization, Photophysical Properties, and
Molecular Order
M. Guruprasad Reddy,†
E. Varathan,‡
Nitin P. Lobo,§
S. Easwaramoorthi,‡
T. Narasimhaswamy,*,†
and A. B. Mandal‡
†
Polymer Laboratory, ‡
Chemical Laboratory, and §
Chemical Physics Laboratory, CSIR-Central Leather Research Institute, Adyar,
Chennai 600020, India
*S Supporting Information
ABSTRACT: Thermotropic liquid crystals exhibiting light-emitting
properties are gaining popularity as functional materials in view of
their application in organic light-emitting diodes. Such mesogens
essentially require active chromophoric moieties in the mesogenic core
so that the mutual light-emitting and liquid crystalline properties can be
realized. In this work, three-ring-core-based mesogens with a terminal
dimethylamino unit are subjected to structural characterization by various
techniques. These mesogens exhibit enantiotropic nematic as well as
smectic A phase with interdigitated layer organization (SmAd). This is a
surprising observation because the SmAd organization is commonly
observed for calamitic mesogens with terminal polar groups. Interest-
ingly, the single-crystal structure of the C6 homologue indicates
antiparallel packing. Furthermore, the photophysical properties of a
representative C12 mesogen in solution disclose yet another exciting
feature. The steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence studies indicate negative solvotochromism in solvents with differing
polarity. To obtain greater insight, density functional theory (DFT)-based highest occupied molecular orbital−lowest unoccupied
molecular orbital studies are carried out which support intramolecular charge-transfer interactions in this class of mesogens.
Additionally, the DFT calculations also provide the 13
C chemical shifts which are compared with the solution NMR values for the
structural assignment of all carbons in the core unit. Furthermore, the two-dimensional separated local field measurements for
the C12 homologue in nematic and SmAd mesophases offer 13
C−1
H dipolar couplings from which the molecular order is
determined to be 0.59 and 0.70, respectively.
■ INTRODUCTION
Thermotropic liquid crystals are an important class of self-
organized molecular entities which are in dynamic motion yet
possess long-range orientational order.1−3
The construction of
liquid crystalline molecules is usually carried out by adopting a
covalent strategy.4−6
In recent years, use of noncovalent
interactions, namely, hydrogen bonding, π−π interactions,
charge-transfer interactions etc., for the construction of liquid
crystals has gained recognition.7−9
In a noncovalent approach
of building mesogens, the molecular core demands a terminal
active functionality.10
For example, in the case of hydrogen
bonding-based mesogens, the core is designed to have a donor
(carboxylic acid) or an acceptor (pyridine) as a vital part.11,12
For those based on charge-transfer interactions, typically an
electron-releasing group such as an N,N-dimethylamino moiety
is preferred at terminal location.13,14
Generally, charge-transfer
complexes in liquid crystalline molecules are perceived between
a donor and an acceptor, which could be either mesogenic or
nonmesogenic.15,16
In contrast, the intramolecular charge-
transfer interactions of mesogens involving donor and acceptor
as integral parts of the molecule are relatively less explored.17
Quite remarkably, though the N,N-dimethylamino group is an
excellent donor for charge-transfer interactions, for liquid
crystalline properties, this moiety is considered to be less
efficient owing to the orientation of CH3 group of −N(CH3)2
away from the molecular plane.18,19
In this context, it is curious
to note that the insertion of polar groups like NO2, CN at the
terminal position of a core directly favor unusual smectic
mesophases, which is attributed to the terminal dipoles that
lead to antiparallel organization.20−23
Thus, it is of considerable
importance to undertake investigations dealing with N,N-
dimethylamino-based mesogens in liquid crystalline phase to
understand the molecular organization. In such mesogens,
besides the liquid crystallinity, the other important properties
such as charge-transfer complex and photoluminescence would
be of significant interest because the π-conjugated organic
Received: January 21, 2015
Revised: March 27, 2015
Published: April 3, 2015
Article
pubs.acs.org/JPCC
© 2015 American Chemical Society 9477 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b00630
J. Phys. Chem. C 2015, 119, 9477−9487

functional materials demand combination of these unusual
features.24,25
Hence, in this work, three-ring-based thermo-
tropic mesogens with terminal N,N-dimethylamino moiety and
alkoxy chain are synthesized and a comprehensive character-
ization is attempted using hot-stage optical polarizing
microscopy (HOPM), differential scanning calorimetry
(DSC), and single-crystal as well as powder X-ray diffraction
(XRD) to realize the liquid crystalline properties and the
molecular packing. Quite interestingly for a dodecyloxy
mesogen, the XRD result suggests an interdigitated smectic
layer organization which is a rare feature in N,N-dimethylami-
no-based mesogens. Furthermore, density functional theory
(DFT) calculations are used to determing the geometry-
optimized structure, highest occupied molecular orbital−lowest
unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO−LUMO) properties as
well as 13
C NMR isotropic chemical shifts. Additionally, the
photophysical properties of the C12 homologue is explored by
performing steady-state as well as time-resolved fluorescence
measurements.26,27
In recent years, the solid-state 13
C NMR
experiments, specifically, the two-dimensional (2D) separated
local field (SLF) measurements in liquid crystalline phase have
become popular in view of the wealth of information viz. the
molecular order, molecular topology, and molecular dynamics
offered by the technique.28−32
Hence, the 2D SAMPI-4
experiments are also accomplished for determining the
orientational order for a representative C12 mesogen in SmAd
and nematic phases.
■ EXPERIMENTAL SECTION
The compounds, namely, 4-(((4-(hexyloxy)phenyl)imino)-
methyl)phenyl benzoate (HIMPDB), 4-(((4-dodecyloxy-
phenyl)imino)methyl)phenyl4-(dimethylamino)benzoate
(DdIMPDB), and 4-(((4-(dodecyloxy)phenyl)imino)methyl)-
phenyl benzoate (DdPPB) were synthesized by multistep
synthetic routes. The experimental protocols and the spectral
data are provided in Supporting Information.
Instrumentation Details. Fourier transform infrared (FT-
IR) spectra of the compounds were recorded on an ABB
BOMEM MB3000 spectrometer using KBr pellets. 1
H and 13
C
solution NMR spectra of the mesogens in CDCl3 were acquired
on a Bruker 400 MHz Avance III HD NanoBay NMR
spectrometer. Typically, 0.5 mg of the sample was dissolved in
0.7 mL CDCl3 at room temperature, and tetramethylsilane
(TMS) was used as the internal standard. The resonance
frequencies of 1
H and 13
C were 400.23 and 100.64 MHz,
respectively. The nature of the mesophase and the temperature
of occurrence were determined with an Olympus BX50 hot-
stage optical polarizing microscope equipped with Linkam
THMS 600 stage and TMS 94 temperature controller. The
photographs were taken using an Olympus C7070 digital
camera. Differential scanning calorimetry traces were recorded
using a DSC Q200 instrument with a heating rate of 10 °C/min
in nitrogen atmosphere. The data obtained from the second
heating is considered for discussion. The single-crystal X-ray
structure of HIMPDB was determined using a Bruker Kappa
APEXII single-crystal X-ray diffractometer at SAIF, IIT-Madras,
Chennai. UV−visible absorption spectra were measured using a
Shimadzu UV-1800 spectrophotometer. The steady-state
fluorescence measurements were carried out by a Varian Cary
Eclipse fluorescence spectrophotometer, whereas the fluores-
cence lifetime decay profiles were measured by the time-
correlated single photon counting method (IBH). The samples
were excited at 375 nm laser (Tsunami, Spectra Physics), and
the decay curves were monitored at respective emission
maximum wavelength. The decay profiles were analyzed using
DAS6 software and are fitted satisfactorily with a single
exponential function.
Computational Details. The ground (S0) geometries of
DdIMPDB and DdPPB were optimized using a density
functional theory-based method with Becke’s three-parameter
functional and the Lee−Yang−Parr functional (B3LYP)33,34
with 6-31G* basis set. On the basis of the gas-phase optimized
geometry of DdIMPDB and DdPPB, spectral properties in
chloroform were calculated by time-dependent density func-
tional theory (TD-DFT) method with the polarizable
continuum model (PCM) at the B3LYP/6-31G* level of
theory. All the calculations were carried out using the Gaussian
09 program package.35
Powder X-ray Measurements. Powder X-ray diffraction
studies of the unoriented samples (Lindemann capillary;
diameter of 1 mm; Hampton Research, Aliso Viejo, CA)
were carried out using a PANalytical instrument (DY 1042-
Empyrean) operating with a line focused Ni-filtered Cu Kα (λ
= 1.54 Å) beam and a linear detector (PIXcel 3D). The sample
temperature was controlled with a precision of 0.1 °C using a
heater and a temperature controller (Linkam).36,37
Solid-State NMR Measurements. The solid-state NMR
experiments were carried out on a Bruker Avance III HD 400
WB NMR spectrometer (9.4 T). 1
H and 13
C resonance
frequencies were 400.07 and 100.61 MHz, respectively. The
spectra in the liquid crystalline phases of the sample were
recorded using a double-resonance 4 mm MAS WVT probe
under static conditions. Because the liquid crystalline phase is
observed at higher temperature for DdIMPDB, the sample is a
fine powder at room temperature. Typically, 100 mg of the
powder sample was taken in a 4 mm Zirconia rotor with Teflon
spacer. The sample alignment was achieved by first heating to
the isotropic phase and then slowly cooling to the respective
mesophases. The 1D 13
C NMR spectra in SmAd and nematic
phases were obtained by cross-polarization (CP) scheme with a
contact time of 3 ms; number of scans, 256; recycle delay, 8 s;
and 62.5 kHz radio frequency (RF) field strength on both the
1
H and 13
C channels. High-resolution 2D SLF spectra were
obtained under static conditions using the SAMPI-4 pulse
sequence38
(Figure S6 of Supporting Information) that
correlates the 13
C chemical shift with the associated 13
C−1
H
dipolar coupling. Experimental conditions for SAMPI-4 pulse
scheme for liquid crystalline samples were described in our
earlier work.12,28,29,39
The CP contact time (τ) was 3 ms; the
number of t1 increments was 100, and the signal was acquired
with 28 transients for each t1 increment. To minimize RF
heating effects, a recycle delay of 15s was used. The data were
zero filled in both the t2 and t1 dimensions, yielding a 4096 ×
256 real matrix. A shifted sine bell window function was applied
to the time domain data, and the spectrum was processed in the
phase sensitive mode. In all the experiments, SPINAL-6440
with
30 kHz RF field strength was used to provide heteronuclear
decoupling during the carbon signal acquisition. The sample
temperature was regulated by a Bruker BVTB-3500 variable
temperature unit and assessed from 207
Pb NMR chemical shift
of Pb (NO3)2.41
The 13
C chemical shift was externally
referenced relative to the methine carbon of adamantane at
29.5 ppm.
The Journal of Physical Chemistry C Article
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b00630
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■ RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Scheme 1 shows the synthetic strategy adopted for preparing
N,N-dimethylamino-based three-ring mesogens covered in this
work. Accordingly, the target mesogens are achieved by
condensing 4-N,N-dimethylaminobenzoyloxy benzaldehyde
and 4-alkoxyanilines in ethanol under microwave conditions.
The intermediate two-ring aldehyde is prepared by reacting 4-
N,N-dimethylamino benzoic acid with 4-hydroxy benzaldehyde
using DCC/DMAP in THF−DCM mixture at 0 °C.
Consequently, the phenyl rings of the core are connected
through ester and imine linking units while N,N-dimethylamino
and alkoxy chains are positioned at terminal locations. When
the length of the terminal alkoxy chain is varied from C2 to C12
(even number carbons only), six mesogens are prepared. Figure
1 shows the DdIMPDB planar structure along with carbon
numbers and the geometry-optimized structure from DFT. In
addition, the direction and magnitude of the dipole moment
(4.77 D) is shown for the geometry-optimized structure.
Additionally, DFT is employed for determining the 13
C
chemical shifts as well as examining the HOMO−LUMO
levels to understand the photophysical properties of
DdIMPDB. The 13
C NMR chemical shift values computed
from DFT are compared with solution 13
C NMR values to
complete the assignment of all the core unit carbons.
Furthermore, the overall length of the molecule (L) is found
to be 35.96 Å from the geometry-optimized structure. In
addition, the structural identity of all the synthesized mesogens
is established by FT-IR and 1
H and 13
C NMR spectral
techniques (Figure S1−S3 of Supporting Information).
Mesophase Transitions and Molecular Organization.
The liquid crystalline properties of the synthesized mesogens
were carried out by HOPM and DSC methods, which revealed
the occurrence of enantiotropic nematic phase for all the
mesogens and an additional SmAd phase for DdIMPDB. For
instance, in HOPM, upon cooling the samples from isotropic
phase, either schlieren texture or marble texture is seen for the
nematic phase whereasa fan texture is clearly noticed for the
SmAd mesophase (Figure 2).42
These observations are further
established by DSC in which typical transitions associated with
TC−N and TN−I are noticed for all the homologues (Figure S4 of
Supporting Information) (Table 1). For DdIMPDB, an
enantiotropic SmAd mesophase is additionally observed in
DSC scan (Figure 3). An examination of crystal-to-mesophase
transition temperatures (Table 1) reveal that with increase in
terminal chain length, a decrease in transition values is noticed,
although the trend is not uniform across the homologues. The
TN−I values, on the other hand, showed a regular decrease with
increase in terminal chain length.43
Accordingly, the mesophase
range for all the mesogens showed variation in the span of 60−
90 °C. The good mesophase range suggests that the anisotropic
molecular polarizability is high because of the presence of N,N-
dimethylamino group, which is in conjugation with phenyl rings
of the core unit.43,44
To ascertain the molecular packing and
geometry, the single-crystal structure of HIMPDB is
determined. The XRD data indicates triclinic, P1 space group
of the crystal structure with antiparallel packing (Figure 4b).
The important features of the single-crystal data are listed in
Table 2.
The powder X-ray diffraction of DdIMPDB in the temper-
ature range of 120−190 °C is accomplished because it exhibits
enantiotropic SmAd phase in addition to nematic phase. Table
3 lists the d values measured from powder X-ray diffraction at
Scheme 1
Figure 1. Molecular structure and energy-optimized space-filled model
showing magnitude and direction of dipole moment of DdIMPDB.
Figure 2. HOPM photographs of (a) nematic phase of BIMPDB at
250.1 °C, (b) nematic phase of HIMPDB at 228.8 °C, (c) nematic
phase of OIMPDB at 225.5 °C, and (d) SmAd phase of DdIMPDB at
170.8 °C.
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b00630
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various temperatures in the smectic mesophase. The diffracto-
gram at 150 °C (Figure 5) shows a sharp reflection in the small-
angle region and a broad hump in the wide-angle region. The
presence of sharp reflection in the small-angle region is
characteristic of layer ordering of smectic phase while the broad
hump in the wide-angle region indicates the absence of in-plane
order and liquidlike nature of molecules in the layer (Figure
5).45−47
Accordingly, the layer spacing, d, is found to be 53.44
Å at 150 °C. Table 3 lists the d/L ratio, where L is the length of
the geometry-optimized DdIMPDB mesogen and d is the layer
spacing measured from the diffractogram at various temper-
atures. It is clear from Table 3 that the d/ L ratio in the
temperature range (120−190 °C) is found to be ∼1.46−1.51.
These values distinctly suggest that the smectic phase is
interdigitated bilayer smectic A type (SmAd).45−49
It is
remarkable to note that N,N-dimethylamino-based mesogens
usually show nematic phase.5,50
The presence of SmAd in
DdIMPDB is an interesting observation because such an
organization is normally encountered with mesogens possessing
terminal polar groups like CN, NO2, etc.20−23,45−49
In contrast,
Table 1. Transition Temperatures and Enthalpy Values of Synthesized Mesogens (4a−f)
code temperature TC−N/C−SmAd ΔH (K·cal/mol) temperature TSmAd−N ΔH (K·cal/mol) ΔT TSmAd−N temperature TN−I ΔH (K·cal/mol) ΔT TN−I
4a 182.7 7.28 − − − 255.6 0.33 66.7
4b 169.6 6.81 − − − 251.8 0.38 76.2
4c 148.7 6.84 − − − 236.7 0.31 88.0
4d 126.9 8.43 − − − 222.9 0.29 96.0
4e 133.2 9.06 − − − 211.9 0.22 78.7
4f 122.8 8.35 178.1 0.0096 53.3 209.5 0.18 31.4
Figure 3. DSC second heating and cooling scans of DdIMPDB.
Figure 4. (a) ORTEP diagram of HIMPDB; (b) antiparallel packing of HIMPDB in crystal.
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b00630
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in DdIMPDB, finding SmAd phase with an electron-releasing
N,N-dimethylamino group at the terminal position is a
significant observation. Furthermore, it is generally noticed
that in SmAd, the molecules are preferred to be in antiparallel
packing to compensate the net polarity.20−23
It is important to
note that the single-crystal structure of HIMPDB, a C6
homologue, also shows antiparallel packing. Thus, it is quite
likely that when DdIMPDB melts into smectic mesophase the
antiparallel organization is preserved, as experimentally
confirmed by XRD measurements.
Photophysical Properties in Solution. It has been
established based on the photophysical studies that N,N-
dimethylamino benzoates exhibit twisted intramolecular charge-
transfer (TICT) interactions.26,27,51,52
Because the mesogens
under investigation are constructed from 4-dimethylamino
benzoic acid, the photophysical properties of DdIMPDB in
different solvents are investigated using steady-state and time-
resolved fluorescence techniques.53,54
Quite interestingly, the
UV−visible absorption spectra of DdIMPDB (Figure 6)
remains insensitive to the solvent polarity, whereas the
fluorescence maxima are found to be fairly sensitive to the
solvent polarity (Figure 7). Indeed, the fluorescence maximum
of DdIMPDB is found to be 480, 498, 475, 408, and 447 nm in
chloroform, dichloromethane, tetrahydrofuran, acetonitrile and
N,N-dimethyl sulfoxide solvents, respectively. This phenomen-
on is quite intriguing as the fluorescence maxima becomes blue-
shifted with increase in solvent polarity which, is in sharp
contrast to the behavior generally observed for N,N-
dimethylaminobenzoates.55
The negative solvatochromism in
fluorescence witnessed for DdIMPDB is a rare observation, and
most of the probes known to date exhibit negative
solvatochromism in absorption rather than fluorescence. The
Table 2. Single-Crystal Data of HIMPDB
empirical formula C28H32N2O3
formula weight 444.56
crystal system triclinic
crystal size (mm) 0.35 × 0.35 × 0.30
space group P1
a (Å) 9.6360(3)
b (Å) 10.8458(3)
c (Å) 12.5627(4)
α (Å) 100.934(2)
β (Å) 97.887(2)
γ (Å) 109.429(2)
V (Å3
) 1186.90(6)
Z 2
ρcalcd (g cm−3
) 1.244
F(000) 476
temperature (K) 293(2)
radiation MoKα λ (Å) 0.71073
goodness-of-fit on F2
1.020
reflections collected/unique 20470/4188
data/restraints/parameters 4188/0/299
R (int) 0.0310
CCDC entry, 1044591
Table 3. Powder X-ray Diffraction Data of DdIMPDB
temperature (°C) d1 (Å) d2 (Å) d/L
190 52.61 4.65 1.46
170 52.60 4.63 1.46
160 53.44 4.62 1.48
150 53.44 4.60 1.48
140 53.44 4.59 1.48
130 54.30 4.56 1.51
120 54.30 4.53 1.51
Figure 5. Powder X-ray diffraction profile for DdIMPDB at 150 °C.
Figure 6. Solution absorption spectra of DdIMPDB in different
solvents.
Figure 7. Solution fluorescence spectra of DdIMPDB in different
solvents.
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Stokes shift value calculated from the lowest-energy absorption
and fluorescence maxima is 9750, 9690, 9900, 6460, and 7840
cm−1
in chloroform, dichloromethane, tetrahydrofuran, aceto-
nitrile, and N,N-dimethyl sulfoxide solvents, respectively. The
larger Stokes shift can be due to the significant structural
changes that occur between the ground and excited state and to
the intramolecular charge-transfer interactions. Nonetheless,
the fluorescence lifetime remains almost constant ca. 1.14 ± 0.2
ns irrespective of the solvent used. In view of these interesting
electronic properties of DdIMPDB, the nature of the electronic
transition and frontier molecular orbital (FMO) distributions
are investigated using density functional theory (DFT) at the
B3LYP/6-31G* level of theory. The calculated FMO
distributions of DdIMPDB are presented in Figure 8. It is
evident from Figure 8 that for DdIMPDB, both HOMO and
LUMO are localized on the benzylidene-phenyl unit. A close
examination of these orbitals reveals that the HOMO is
predominantly localized on the benzylidene-phenyl unit while
the LUMO is mostly concentrated on the phenyl benzoate
unit; N,N-dimethylaminobenzoate does not have any significant
influence on the HOMO and LUMO. Thus, it can be
concluded that the electronic properties of DdIMPDB could
have originated from the benzylidene-phenyl rather than the
N,N-dimethylaminobenzoate moiety. TD-DFT calculations
presented in Table 4 have close agreement with experimental
results. For the DdIMPDB, the maximum peak is predicted to
be at 320.6 nm (f = 1.2034) which arises from the HOMO →
LUMO+1 (47%) and HOMO−1 → LUMO (32%) transitions.
To get clear insights on the role of N,N-dimethylamino group
on electronic properties, the frontier molecular orbitals are also
calculated for a hypothetical molecule DdPPB in which the
terminal N,N-dimethylamino moiety is absent, wherein the
LUMO is localized on the phenyl benzoate unit (Figure 8). A
clear distinct feature in the LUMO for DdIMPDB and DdPPB
suggests that pronounced charge transfer can be seen for the
latter. The decrease in the magnitude of charge transfer in the
presence of N,N-dimethylamino group could be attributed to
its strong electron-donating behavior upon photoexcitation of
DdIMPDB, which can also be responsible for the negative
solvatochromism in fluorescence. The electron-transfer process
from the N,N-dimethylamino group to benzylidene-phenyl is
highly more favorable in polar solvents than the nonpolar
solvents. The facile electron-transfer process in the polar
environment probably destabilizes the excited state and leads to
the negative solvatochromism in fluorescence. To confirm this
hypothesis, the fluorescence spectra of DdPPB, which is a
structural analogue of DdIMPDB, without the terminal N,N-
dimethylamino group, is measured, which shows positive
solvatochromism in fluorescence (Figure S5 of Supporting
Information). On the basis of these facts, it can be concluded
that the electronic properties of the DdIMPDB molecule
originate from the benzylidene-phenyl moiety and the negative
solvatochromism is due to the photoinduced electron transfer
from dimethylamino group to benzylidene-phenyl of the core
unit.
Solid-State 13
C NMR Spectroscopy. One of the
synthesized mesogens, DdIMPDB, the C12 homologue, is
investigated by high-resolution solid-state 13
C NMR in SmAd
and nematic mesophases. The static 1D and 2D 13
C NMR
experiments are carried out in both phases with the purpose of
finding the orientational order. The core unit carbons in the
solution spectrum were assigned using 13
C chemical shifts
calculated by the DFT method. This is a useful starting point
for confirming the molecular structure and the assignment of
the carbon peaks in the liquid crystalline phase. Figure 9a shows
the proton decoupled 13
C NMR of DdIMPDB in CDCl3
measured at room temperature. For the three-ring core unit
carbons, 14 signals as listed in Table 5 are seen. For the
terminal units, the methyl of N,N-dimethylamino carbon is
noticed at 40 ppm and the methoxy carbon of dodecyloxy chain
is observed at 68.3 ppm. The other methylene carbons of the
terminal chain are seen in the range of 22−32 ppm, whereas
methyl carbon showed a distinct signal at 14.2 ppm. It is also
observed from the solution spectrum that the quaternary
carbons showed low intensity in contrast to phenyl ring
methine as well as imine methine carbons. The chemical shift
assigned to core unit carbons of the mesogen are listed in Table
5. Among all the core unit carbons, the imine carbon is
noticeable at 157 ppm. Thus, the solution 13
C NMR spectral
Figure 8. FMO distribution of DdIMPDB and DdPPB (isosurface value, 0.03 au) in CHCl3 at PCM-B 3LYP/6-31G* level of theory.
Table 4. Summary of the Excited-State Electronic Transitions Obtained from the TD-DFT Calculations at B3LYP/6-31G* Level
of Theory
compound solvent state absorption (nm) energy (eV) oscillator strength (f) dominant contribution (%)a
exptl. (nm)
DdIMPDB CHCl3 S1 320.6 3.87 1.2034 H → L+1 (47%), H-1 → L (32%) 328
S2 281.0 4.41 0.9054 H → L+1 (34%), H-1 → L (16%)
S3 205.2 6.04 0.2622 H → L+2 (32%), H-5 → L (32%)
DdPPB CHCl3 S1 320.5 3.87 0.9480 H → L (67%), H → L+1 (18%) 340
S2 266.3 4.66 0.6233 H-1 → L (38%),H-6 → L (28%)
a
H denotes HOMO and L denotes LUMO.
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features of DdIMPDB are very much consistent with the
molecular structure.
Panels b and c in Figure 9 show the static 13
C NMR spectra
of DdIMPDB in SmAd and nematic phases, respectively. The
high resolution of the spectrum as well as the 13
C chemical
shifts suggest the alignment of molecules in the magnetic field.
The chemical shift assignment of the spectral lines in the
mesophase is attempted by comparing the structurally similar
segments of known liquid crystals and also making use of the
2D SAMPI-4 spectrum (Figure 10). For instance, 4-alkoxy
benzylidene-based mesogens can provide the information about
the chemical shift values of ring II carbons.56
The assigned core
unit carbons along with alignment-induced chemical shifts
(AIS) are listed in Table 5. A clear increase in chemical shift
values of core unit carbons in contrast to solution spectrum is
noticed. For the terminal chain, a marginal decrease in chemical
shifts is noted in liquid crystalline phase as against the solution.
However, interestingly, for the N,N-dimethylamino carbons, an
increase in chemical shift value is noticed in contrast to solution
spectrum.57
This is in stark difference to dodecyloxy chain,
where decrease in chemical shifts of all the carbons is found in
mesophase in contrast to the solution spectrum. The increase
in chemical shift values of N,N-dimethylamino in the liquid
crystalline phase could be due to different orientation of methyl
group as against the terminal dodecyloxy chain. Because the
Figure 9. 13
C NMR spectra of DdIMPDB in (a) solution, (b) SmAd
phase at 145 °C, and (c) nematic phase at 195 °C.
Table 5. 13
C NMR Data of DdIMPDB in Solution and Liquid Crystalline States
145 °C 195 °C
C
no.
solution
(ppm)
DFT
(ppm)
SmAd phase
(ppm)
AIS
(ppm)
13
C−1
H dipolar oscillation
frequencies (kHz)
nematic phase
(ppm)
AIS
(ppm)
13
C−1
H dipolar oscillation
frequencies (kHz)
1 153.8 149.8 222.1 68.3 1.64 215.1 61.3 1.34
2 110.8 108.2 133.5 22.7 3.28 131.6 20.8 2.78
3 132.1 133.1 164.3 32.2 2.84 160.9 28.8 2.42
4 115.6 117.0 179.0 63.4 1.55 172.5 56.9 1.21
5 165.2 161.0 207.1 41.9 0.79 203.0 37.8 0.71
6 153.6 154.4 222.1 68.5 1.64 215.1 61.5 1.34
7 122.4 120.8 152.8 30.4 2.75 149.3 26.9 2.39
8 129.7 130.6 161.0 31.3 2.90 157.7 28.0 2.50
9 133.8 132.7 205.6 71.8 2.20 197.9 64.1 1.91
10 157.3 152.6 198.6 41.3 5.00 194.0 36.7 4.33
11 144.7 145.3 205.6 60.9 1.50 197.9 53.2 1.25
12 122.2 127.9 147.2 25.0 2.99 144.3 22.1 2.62
13 115.0 116.9 142.8 27.8 2.98 140.2 25.2 2.59
14 157.9 157.6 230.3 72.4 1.61 221.8 63.9 1.33
Figure 10. 2D SAMPI-4 spectra of DdIMPDB in (a) SmAd phase at
145 °C and (b) nematic phase at 195 °C.
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b00630
J. Phys. Chem. C 2015, 119, 9477−9487
9483

methyl groups of N,N-dimethylamino group are away from the
molecular axis, the orientation of the CSA tensors of methyl
carbon is different from that of the dodecyloxy methyl carbon.
Furthermore, in addition to 1D experiments, the 2D SLF
experiments are also carried out for DdIMPDB in SmAd and
nematic phases. The 2D spectrum measured at 145 °C in SmAd
phase (Figure 10a) shows as many as 12 contours with varying
intensities arising from protonated as well as nonprotonated
carbons. The 13
C−1
H dipolar couplings of the core unit are
listed in Table 5. The imine methine carbon showed a contour
at 194 ppm in nematic phase (Figure 10b) with a 13
C−1
H
dipolar coupling of 4.33 kHz. For the phenyl ring methine
carbons, the 13
C−1
H dipolar couplings are in the range of
∼2.39−3.78 kHz, whereas for the quaternary carbons, the
values are found to be ∼1.36−1.50 kHz. The 2D data also
provides support for the assignment of core unit as well as
terminal chain carbons because the separation of contours is
guided by the orientation of individual C−H vectors. For
instance, the identification of imine carbon is significantly easier
from the 2D spectrum than from the 1D data alone. Similarly,
the ester carbonyl assignment is straightforward because the
13
C−1
H dipolar coupling value would be less because it is away
from neighboring protonated carbons. Also, the assignment of
several methylene carbons of the dodecyloxy terminal chain in
2D is relatively easier than in the 1D spectrum (Figure 10). In
SmAd phase, the 13
C−1
H dipolar couplings as well as chemical
shifts showed an increase in contrast to nematic phase due to
increase in orientational order as SmAd is more ordered than
the nematic phase. The 13
C−1
H dipolar couplings (Table 5)
determined from 2D experiments in both phases are utilized for
finding the orientational order parameter.
The 2D SAMPI-4 provides dipolar oscillation frequencies
from which the dipolar couplings can be extracted by adopting
the established method.12,28,29,58,59
These 13
C−1
H dipolar
couplings are employed for finding the local orientational
order parameter of the phenyl rings by the following
equation.59−61
θ θ θ= − ′ + −
′ − ′
{
}
D K S
S S
1
2
(3cos 1)
1
2
(cos cos )
( )
z zz x y
xx yy
CH
2 2 2
(1)
where K = −hγHγC/4π2
rCH
3
; γH and γC are the gyromagnetic
ratios of protons and carbons, respectively; rCH is the
internuclear distance between the carbon and proton nuclei;
and θx, θy, and θz are angles that internuclear vector rCH forms
with the respective coordinate axes. The coordinate axes are the
local axes defined on the molecular fragment under
consideration; in this case, the phenyl ring is considered. The
z axis is the para axis of the phenyl ring and the x axis is
perpendicular and is in the plane of the ring. The standard
bond distances employed for the calculations are rCH = 1.1 Å
for the C−H bond and rCC = 1.4 Å for the C−C bond. During
the fitting procedure, the two C−C−H bond angles have been
slightly varied around 120° (assumed for an ideal hexagonal
geometry) in view of the uncertainty involved in the position of
the H atom as determined by X-rays.58
Thus, the calculated Szz′
and (Sxx′ − Syy′ ) for each phenyl ring of the core in SmAd and
nematic phase, respectively, are listed in Table 6. Accordingly,
Szz′ values of ring II in SmAd and nematic phases are 0.70 and
0.59, respectively. These values are comparable with those of
the calamitic mesogens that exhibit smectic A and nematic
phases which are reported in the literature.60−65
Based on the
order parameter values of three phenyl rings in both nematic
and SmAd phases, the location of the long axis passing through
the core can be identified. As explained in earlier work,46
the
ratios of order parameters of phenyl rings provide information
about the angles between phenyl rings of the core unit. It is
clear from Table 6 that in both phases, the order parameter of
ring II is higher than that of ring I as well as that of ring III.
This suggests that the long axis is more collinear to ring II than
the other two rings. In a recent study, Domenici et al.30
performed a 13
C NMR investigation of three-ring-based
mesogen with a chiral center that exhibits SA Devries phase
and SmC* phase and calculated the order parameters
employing 13
C chemical shifts as well as 13
C−1
H dipolar
couplings (PDLF). Using 13
C−1
H dipolar couplings in three
aromatic rings in SmA and in SmC* phases, the relative
orientation of rings have been determined. Interestingly, in
SmC* phase, the aromatic ring closer to the chiral lateral chain
is found to be much more tilted than the other two rings,
indicating the occurrence of a conformational change at the
SmA−SmC* phase transition. This observation is supported by
the order parameters which showed a decreasing trend in
Table 6. Planar Structure with Orienting Axis and Orientational Order Parameter Values of DdIMPDB
angles calculated dipolar oscillation frequencies (kHz)
T (°C) ring θb θc Szz′ Sxx′ − Syy′ b c a da
RMSD (kHz)
145 I 118.8 120.2 0.68 0.070 3.28 2.84 1.54 1.57 0.05
II 120.7 120.2 0.70 0.072 2.76 2.92 1.64 2.20 0.01
III 119.5 119.6 0.68 0.066 3.03 3.00 1.55 1.55 0.04
195 I 118.7 119.9 0.57 0.056 2.76 2.44 1.28 1.31 0.06
II 120.5 120.1 0.59 0.060 2.38 2.49 1.37 1.85 0.04
III 119.2 119.4 0.57 0.054 2.61 2.56 1.29 1.29 0.03
a
For carbon d in ring II, the contribution of the azomethine proton has also been taken into account.
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b00630
J. Phys. Chem. C 2015, 119, 9477−9487
9484

SmC*. However, in the present investigation, though the
mesogen exhibits SmAd, no evidence for conformational change
or anomaly in the order parameter values is noticed across the
transition from nematic to SmC* phase. Furthermore, a plot of
temperature and carbon chemical shifts (Figure S7 of
Supporting Information) of all the core unit carbons support
no abrupt change across the nematic-to-SmAd phase transition.
This suggests that the phase transition from nematic to SmAd is
not a first-order transition.66,67
This observation is very well
supported by the DSC data in which transition enthalpy
associated with nematic-to-SmAd phase is found to be low.
■ CONCLUSIONS
Thermotropic liquid crystals consisting of a three phenyl ring
core with dimethylamino moiety and alkoxy chain as terminal
units were synthesized from 4-N,N′-dimethylamino benzoic
acid. The HOPM and DSC measurements confirmed the
enantiotropic nematic mesophase for all the mesogens while
SmAd is additionally noticed for the C12 homologue. The XRD
studies revealed interdigitation of molecules in the layers of
SmA phase for the C12 homologue, wherein the d/L values
were found to be in the range of ∼1.46−1.51. Furthermore, the
photophysical properties of the C12 homologue in different
solvents revealed negative solvatochromism in fluorescence
emission. The DFT-based HOMO−LUMO calculations as well
as steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence studies indicated
intramolecular charge-transfer interactions. Additionally,
HOMO−LUMO calculations revealed that the electronic
properties of DdIMPDB originated from the benzylidene-
phenyl moiety and the negative solvatochromism was due to
the photoinduced electron transfer from dimethylamino group
to benzylidene-phenyl of the core unit. The temperature versus
13
C chemical shifts plot suggested that the phase transition
from nematic to SmAd is of a second-order nature, which was
well-supported by the ΔH values from the DSC measurements.
The 2D SLF NMR experiments enabled the determination of
the orientational order parameters in SmAd and nematic phases.
Based on the order parameter values of three phenyl rings in
both nematic and SmAd phases, the location of the long axis
passing through the core was identified. Furthermore, the
comprehensive characterization attempted in this investigation
indicates that the mesogens under investigation are eligible
candidates for organic light-emitting diode function. Thus, the
present investigation clearly revealed many interesting findings
such as appearance of SmAd mesophase, antiparallel packing of
molecules in crystal as well as smectic phase, negative
solvatochromism in solution, and the second-order nature of
the nematic-to-SmAd phase transition. Therefore, it appears
that the terminal dimethyamino group greatly influences many
properties in this class of mesogens, as supported by the
experimental data generated from a wide range of techniques.
■ ASSOCIATED CONTENT
*S Supporting Information
Synthesis details; FT-IR, 1
H NMR, and 13
C NMR spectral data
of intermediates and final mesogens; figure of SAMPI-4 pulse
sequence; DSC plot; fluorescence spectra; and plot of chemical
shifts versus temperature. This material is available free of
charge via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.
■ AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*E-mail: tnswamy99@hotmail.com.
Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
■ ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors thank Prof. K. V. Ramanathan, NMR Research
Centre, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India for his
support and keen interest in this work. The authors are thankful
to Dr. V. Subramanian, CLRI, for the quantum chemical
calculations. M.G.R. and T.N. are grateful to Prof. V. A.
Raghunathan and Ms. K. N. Vasudha, Raman Research
Institute, Bangalore, India for the powder X-ray measurements.
We acknowledge the partial financial support from NWP-55,
and M.G.R. thanks Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
(CSIR), New Delhi for the financial support in the form of a
Senior Research Fellow.
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