Lyotropic liquid crystalline crystals

The mixing of nematogenic compounds with chiral solutes has been shown to lead to cholesteric phases without any chemical interactions.147 Milhaud and Michels describe the interactions of multilamellar vesicles formed from dilauryl-phosphotidylcholine (DLPC) with chiral polyene antibiotics amphotericin B (amB) and nystatin (Ny).148 Even at low concentrations of antibiotic (molar ratio of DLPC to antibiotic >130) twisted ribbons are seen to form just as the CD signals start to strengthen. The results support the concept that chiral solutes can induce chiral order in these lyotropic liquid crystalline systems and are consistent with the observations for thermotropic liquid crystal systems. Clearly the lipid membrane can be chirally influenced by the addition of appropriate solutes. 

A compound that has two immiscible hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts within the same molecule is called an amphiphilic molecule (as mentioned earlier). Many amphiphilic molecules show lyotropic liquid-crystalline phase sequences, depending on the volume balances between the hydrophilic part and the hydrophobic part. These structures are formed through the microphase segregation of two incompatible components on a nanometer scale. Hand soap is an everyday example of a lyotropic liquid crystal (80% soap + 20% water). 

Liquid crystals are classified into lyotropic and thermotropic crystals depending on the way in which the mesomorphic phase is generated. Lyotropic liquid-crystalline solvents are formed by addition of controlled amounts of polar solvents to certain amphiphilic compounds. Thermotropic liquid-crystalline solvents, simply obtained by temperature variations, can be further classified into nematic, smectic, and cholesteric solvents depending on the type of molecular order present. Liquid crystals are usually excellent solvents for other organic compounds. Nonmesomorphic solute molecules may be incorporated into liquid-crystalline solvents without destruction of the order prevailing in the liquid-crystalline matrix (Michl and Thulstrup, 1986). Ordered solvent phases such as liquid crystals have also been used as reaction media, particularly for photochemical reactions (Nakano and Hirata, 1982). 

Since Robinson [1] discovered cholesteric liquid-crystal phases in concentrated a-helical polypeptide solutions, lyotropic liquid crystallinity has been reported for such polymers as aromatic polyamides, heterocyclic polymers, DNA, cellulose and its derivatives, and some helical polysaccharides. These polymers have a structural feature in common, which is elongated (or asymmetric) shape or chain stiffness characterized by a relatively large persistence length. The minimum persistence length required for lyotropic liquid crystallinity is several nanometers1. 

The appearance of tubular myelin-like structures in swollen lecithin was observed by light microscopy well before the systematic investigation of liposomes [351-352]. Similarly, it was also demonstrated some time ago that the addition of calcium ions converted phospholipid liposomes to cochleate cylinders [353]. Subsequent studies have, however, revealed that the system is extremely complex. For example, examination of the phase-transition behavior of synthetic sodium di-n-dodecyl phosphate [(C12H2sO)2PO2Na+ or NaDDP] and calcium di-n-dodecyl phosphate [Ca(DDP)2] showed the presence of many diverse structures [354]. In particular, hydrated NaDDP crystals were shown to form lyotropic liquid-crystalline phases which transformed, upon heating to 50 °C, to myelin-like tubes. Structures of the tubes formed were found... 

Polyoxybenzoate is a stiff chain, lyotropic liquid crystalline material, as was discussed on the basis of its copolymers with ethylene terephthalate (see Sect. 5.1.4). The crystal structure of the homopolymer polyoxybenzoate was shown by Lieser 157) to have a high temperature phase III, described as liquid crystalline. X-ray and electron diffraction data on single crystals suggested that reversible conformational disorder is introduced, i.e. a condis crystal exists. Phase III, which is stable above about 560 K, has hexagonal symmetry and shows an 11 % lower density than the low temperature phases I and II. It is also possible to find sometimes the rotational disorder at low temperature in crystals grown during polymerization (CD-glass). 

Figure I. Difference in the phase region of the lamellar liquid crystal (black) when an aromatic hydrocarbon (left) is replaced by an aliphatic one (right) demonstrates the sensitivity of the lyotropic liquid crystalline structure to weak intermodular forces. The emulsifier is a polyoxyethylene (9) nonyl phenol ether.

The rigid rod chains in para-aramids tend to form so-called liquid crystals when they are dissolved in polar solvents or heated to certain temperatures. The polymers showing liquid crystalline behavior in melts are called the thermotropic liquid crystalline polymers, and those showing similar properties in solution are called the lyotropic liquid crystalline polymers. These liquid crystals exist in three distinct phases according to their specific structures (Fig. 12.25). 

Metal-poly-yne polymers other than Pt-D1 polymer also form liquid crystals. They may be the first example of lyotropic liquid-crystalline materials having transition metals. 

The unusual optical properties of liquid crystals had been remarked upon and described for several centuries before their uniqueness as a state of matter was recognised. Their early reports described the strange melting behaviour and appearance of some naturally occurring materials, either as pure compounds or as gels in water, which have now been shown to be thermotropic or lyotropic liquid crystals. Thermotropic liquid crystalline phases are formed under the action of heat, see Figures 2.1 and 2.2, and the lyotropic liquid crystalline phases are formed by the action of a solvent, such as water, usually with an amphiphilic compound. However, the nature of these materials, or indeed their exact... 

This chapter focuses on the fixation of lyotropic liquid crystalline phases by the polymerization of one (or more) component(s) following equilibration of the phase. The primary emphasis will be on the polymerization of bicontinuous cubic phases, a particular class of liquid crystals which exhibit simultaneous continuity of hydrophilic — usually aqueous — and hydrophobic — typically hydrocarbon — components, a property known as bicontinuity (1), together with cubic crystallographic symmetry (2). The potential technological impact of such a process lies in the fact that after polymerization of one component to form a continuous polymeric matrix, removal of the other component creates a microporous material with a highly-branched, monodisperse, triply-periodic porespace (3). 

It stabilizes the lyotropic liquid crystalline state of biological assemblies relative to the crystalline state, due to the so-called chiral bilayer effect, which will be discussed in more detail in Section 4.2. For example, 10-nonacosanol, extruded from the lipophilic wax layer of pine needles, forms fluid lipid tubules rather than crystals. Although it is difficult to establish the enantiopurity of the natural product, the fact that synthetic pure enantiomers produce tubules while the racemate gives platelets suggests that the biologically relevant morphology is attained because of the enantiopurity of the biomolecule. °... 

As their name implies, liquid crystals are materials whose structures and properties are intermediate between those of isotropic liquids and crystalline solids (2). They can be of two primary types. Thermotropic liquid crystalline phases are formed at temperatures intermediate between those at which the crystalline and isotropic liquid phases of a mesogenic compound exist. Substances which exhibit thermotropic phases are generally rod- or disc-like in shape, and contain flexible substituents attached to a relatively rigid molecular core. Lyotropic liquid crystalline phases are formed by amphiphilic molecules (e.g. surfactants) in the presence of small amounts of water or other polar solvent. In general, the constituent molecules in a liquid crystal possess orientational order reminiscent of that found in the crystalline phase, yet retain some degree of the fluidity associated with the isotropic liquid phase. 

Thermotropic liquid crystals and also lyotropic liquid crystals generate functional molecular assemblies. lyotropic liquid crystalline phases are exhibited by amphiphilic molecules in appropriate solvents. They form nano-segregated structures because the molecular structures consist of hydrophilic and hydrophobic components. In Chapter 6, Gin and co-workers describe how lyotropic liquid crystals may be used to form functional materials. Lyotropic liquid crystals can act as templates for inorganic materials, ion conductors, catalysts, drug delivery systems, and nanofilters. 

Very recently, Schmidt et al. synthesized novel polyamides 51 by using arylsubstituted terephthalic acids moieties such as para- or ortfto-terphenyI-2,5-dicarboxylic acids in combination with substituted and non-coplanar diamines [70]. Those polyamides 51 from substituted diacids, diamines or non-coplanar diamines showed high solubility in DMAc, and in most cases without addition of inorganic salts (LiCl). In DMAc (LiCl), polyamide 51ca (rjinh = 1-63 dl/g) forms a lyotropic liquid crystalline phase at > 8 wt % at room temperature, and at > 5 wt % at 110 °C for polyamide 51ae (T)i h = 3.58 dl/g). On the other hand, with the copolyamides 52 the critical concentrations of liquid crystal formation are around 40-45% at room temperature. For these copolyamides, concentrated solutions in DMAc/LiCl with polymer concentration up to 50wt% could be prepared for polymers with x > 0.6. 

From a historical point of view as well as due to their applications, thermotropic and lyotropic liquid crystals have always been treated separately. While thermotropics and the concept of liquid crystallinity in general were discovered as late as in 1888 [3], lyotropic phases were known to mankind since the Bronze Age [4], as they occur during the soap-making process. Due to this, lyotropic liquid crystals find their main applications in the detergent industry and in cosmetics. As various biological systems, e.g. cell membranes, take a lyotropic liquid crystalline form, they also possess some medical and pharmaceutical importance [5]. In contrast, thermotropic liquid crystals are used for completely different applications, e.g. for displays, thermography, tunable filters or lasers [6]. Thus, it is not astonishing, that two distinct fields of research evolved for the two types of liquid crystals. However, thermotropic and lyotropic liquid crystals share a common state of matter with many similarities. For example, many mesophases which occur in thermotropics can also be found in lyotropics. Still, there are some thermotropic phases which do not seem to have a lyotropic counterpart. 

Fig. 3.1 Building blocks of thermotropic and lyotropic liquid crystalline phases. The upper part of the figure shows two examples of typical thermotropic mesogens. Calamitic mesogens, such as terephthal-bis-(p-butylaniline) (TBBA) [2], can be represented by prolate ellipsoids or rigid rods, while discotic mesogens, such as benzene-hexa-n-octanoate (BH8) [4], are usually described by oblate ellipsoids or discs. The lower part of the figure shows the typical surfactant molecule sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), which forms lyotropic phases with water [5], Such a surfactant molecule is basically composed of a polar head group and a flexible hydrophobic tail. These amphiphilic molecules aggregate into different types of micelles, which are the actual mesogens of lyotropic liquid crystals. The shape of the micelles depends mainly on the solvent concentration...

The appearance of specific fiquid crystalline phases and especially the sequence in which they occur is not random but follows certain rules. As the driving forces behind the formation of thermotropic and lyotropic liquid crystalline phases differ from each other, these rules are also different for the two types of liquid crystals. 

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