• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.27 no.9
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• pp.1364-1370
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• 2006

New liquid-crystalline biphenyl carboxylates with an achiral swallow-tail derived from 1,3-dialkoxy-2-propanol $[(ROCH_2)_2CHOH$] where R is methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl, $CH_2CF_3$, and $CH_2CF_2CF_3$ were prepared. These achiral liquid crystals having 1,3-dialkoxy-2-propyl moieties exhibit diverse phase sequences [I-SmA-(SmC)-(SmCalt)-Cr] depending on the substituent R group of the swallow-tail. The compounds carrying a fluorinated swallow-tail exhibit antiferroelectric-like smectic C phases, and their temperature ranges are broader than the corresponding non-fluorinated swallow-tailed ones.