A polycatenar mesogen with a perfluorinated moiety showing continuous phase transformation between a smectic A phase and a structured, fluid, optically isotropic phase

A polycatenar mesogen consisting of a four aromatic ring system with three long alkoxy chains and a bulky perfluorinated substituent has been synthesized and found to show the polymorphism of a cubic phase, a columnar phase and a smectic A phase, including a structured, fluid, optically isotropic phase with the phase transformation between the smectic A phase and the isotropic phase occurring continuously.