Solute induced liquid crystalline behaviour of a quaternary ammonium salt and its application to structure determination

Abstract

A new liquid crystalline phase, induced by the addition of small amounts of a non-mesogenic solute (such as dimethyl sulphoxide or methyl iodide) to a quaternary ammonium salt, N -methyl- N, N, N-trioctadecylammonium iodide (MTAI), has been detected by NMR and optical microscopic studies. In some cases, there is a coexistence of nematic and smectic phases. Information on the ordering of the phases in the magnetic field of the spectrometer has been derived from NMR spectra of a dissolved molecule, 13C-enriched methyl iodide. The low order parameter of the pure thermotropic nematic phase of the salt provides firstorder spectra of the dissolved oriented molecules. Analyses of spectra of cis, cis -mucononitrile exemplifies the utility of the MTAI nematic phase in the determination of structural parameters of the solute.