The commonly accepted structural requirement for discotic liquid crystals is possession of a flat aromatic core surrounded by several flexible side chains. Thus, the possibility of new discotic liquid crystal formation based on helicene core was explored. Hexahelicene-7,10-dicarbonitrile was prepared from 3-(1-cyano-3-phenanthryl)-2-(2-naphthyl)-acrylnonitrile by photoreaction and then converted to diacid by hydrolysis. The obtained diacid was treated with thionyl chloride to diacid chloride and then with decylalcohol in pyridine to diester.
The physical properties of the diester was studied by polarized microscopy and differential scanning calorimetry but it did not show liquid crystalline character.
