Self-assembly of hydrogen bonding assisted highly conjugated inclusion complexes threaded with β-cyclodextrins

A new class of highly conjugated liquid crystalline molecule, and inclusion complexes with a highly conjugated arm, are prepared. Due to the highly conjugated side group, the synthesized liquid crystal (LC) in this investigation revealed smectic phases. In dilute systems, the self-assembly of LCs formed a football-shaped construction. In addition, threading of β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) increases the intermolecular forces and leads to the self-assembly of ICs, forming fibrous constructions. Self-assembled ICs reveal birefringence and show a color texture under polarized optical microscope. A schematic representation of the self-assembly of the inclusion complexes is proposed. [Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Soft Materials to view the free supplemental file: Supporting Information.]