Columnar liquid crystals derived from ester‐substituted tetraphenylenes

We report the synthesis and liquid crystalline properties of novel ester‐substituted tetraphenylenes obtained from octamethoxytetraphenylene by demethylation and esterification. The target compounds display focal‐conic textures typical for columnar mesophases, which are either rectangular or hexagonal columnar in nature, depending on the alkyl chain length.