Synthesis of Ferroelectric Host Materials

Ferroelectric host systems are mixtures composed of materials that are achiral, and when blended together they exhibit a nematic-smectic A-smectic C phase sequence for the purposes of ease of alignment with the smectic C phase being available over a temperature range that includes room tem- 

The fact that all of the best host materials have no linking functional groups and that most of the core rings are directly linked 

The use of cross-coupling methods for both the creation of the core structure and for the introduction of aliphatic substituents is very flexible. Particularly, the ability to use horonic acids to selectively couple to iodides or bromides releases the chemist to prepare materials systematically and with any particular substitution pattern they require. 

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