Homeotropic alignment of dendritic columnar liquid crystal induced by hydrogen-bonded triphenylene core bearing fluoroalkyl chains

A 1:3 molar complex of the fluoroalkyl side chain-substituted 2,6,10-tris-carboxymethoxy-3,7,11- tris(4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,7-nonafluoroheptyloxy) triphenylene (TPF4) with the second generation dendron 3,5-bis(3,4-bis- dodecyloxybenzyloxy)-N-pyridin-4-yl-benzamide (DN) assembled through complementary hydrogen bonding to form a supramolecular columnar liquid crystal, which exhibited homeotropic alignment when sandwiched between octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS)-coated or indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated glass plates due to specific interactions between the fluoroalkyl side chains and the substrates.