Bis(4-butoxyphenyl)terephthalate

The crystal and molecular structures of nematogenic bis(4-butoxyphenyl) terephthalate, C28H30O6, are reported. The molecular structure, determined by X-ray diffraction, is very different from that of the same compound reported on the basis of solid-state NMR analysis [Uryu & Kato (1988). Macromolecules, 21, 378-384]. In the structure reported here, the carbonyl group of the ester is, as expected, almost coplanar with the phenyl ring of the terephthalate. The conformation of the aliphatic chain is not fully trans-planar; there is a gauche bond. Molecules are stacked in layers with a herring-bone type of packing within the layers.