Discotic liquid crystals of transition metal complexes 33: Spontaneous uniform homeotropic alignment and unique mesophase transition behavior of bis[2,3,9,10,16,17,23,24-octakis(3,4-dialkoxyphenoxy)phthalocyaninato]lutetium(III) complexes

Novel discotic liquid crystalline bis[2,3.9.10,16.17.23.24-octakis(3.4-dialkoxyphenoxy)phthalocyaninato]lutetium(III) complexes, {[(CnO)(2)PhO](8)Pc}Lu (n = 12: 5a and n = 13: 5b). were synthesized. Their mesomorphic properties were investigated using polarization microscopy, DSC, and temperature-dependent X-ray diffraction techniques. These Lit complexes exhibited a very unique mesophase transition sequence of Col(h) --> Cub(1) --> Cub(2) --> Col(tet). In Col(tet), a monodomain spontaneous homeotropic alignment could be achieved. Moreover. they showed two Cub phases. which is the first example of phthalocyanine-based discotic liquid crystals. The electrochemical property of 5a was also estimated by cyclic voltammetry.