Ferroelectric and mesomorphic properties of oxovanadium(IV) complexes with long alkoxy chains

Abstract The chiral and racemic oxovanadium(IV) salmmen complexes, [VO( X )-(C16-salmmen)] ( X  =  R ( 1 ), S ( 2 ), and rac ( 3 ); C16-salmmen =  N , N ′-monomethylenebis(5-hexadecyloxysalicylideneimine)) containing 5-substituted alkoxy chains on aromatic rings were synthesized, and their mesomorphic behaviors and ferroelectric properties were also investigated. All complexes exhibited both smectic A and chiral smectic C mesophases above 360 K, and they showed ferroelectric properties in the chiral smectic C mesophase.