Self-assembly of taper- and wedge-shaped maleimide derivatives: Synthesis and structure-property relationship

Abstract

Herein, we describe design and synthesis of five new amphiphilic systems, viz. 10b-c and 11a-c composed of maleimide at the focal point and alkoxy phenyl ring at the periphery. Their self-assembling behaviour was examined systematically by varying the length of hydrophobic part and aromatic core segment. Evidently, on increasing the aromatic core length, maleimide based amphiphiles relatively emerge as two distinct molecular structures, i.e. wedge- and tapered-shaped. The mesomorphic studies of the two series reveal that, tapered-shaped maleimide derivatives assemble into a smectic A phase with an interesting phasmidic arrangement, whereas the wedge-shaped molecules exclusively form a prospective supramolecular hexagonal columnar mesophase through the intermolecular hydrogen-bonding via maleimide head group. These self-assembled materials could demonstrate high-sensitivity towards various external stimuli.