Trihydrazone functionalized cyanopyridine discoids: synthesis, mesogenic and optical properties

A new series of trihydrazone functionalized cyanopyridine derivatives (CPTH-Dm) carrying 3,4-dialkoxyphenyl groups was designed and synthesized successfully as discotic columnar liquid crystals. These new discoid mesogens display hexagonal columnar phase with a wide mesophase range from ambient temperature to 110 °C and the observed columnar assembly is due to the presence of intermolecular hydrogen bonds and π–π interactions in them. Their optical studies reveal that the compounds are good blue light emitters and hence they are potential candidates for OLED device fabrication.