Ferroelectric Liquid Crystals Incorporating the Optically Active γ-Lactone Ring

Ferroelectric liquid crystals incorporating an optically active γ-lactone ring were prepared. They show enantiotropic smectic C phases which have very large spontaneous polarizations as large as ~590 nC/cm2 (5.9 mC/m2). The large spontaneous polarizations are attributed to the structural features wherein a dipole and two chiral centers are fixed in the γ-lactone ring.