A supramolecular approach to fullerene-containing liquid crystals

A cyclotriveratrylene (CTV) derivative substituted with 18 surrounding long alkyl chains (1) is able to form a 2:1 host–guest complex with C60 in the solid state. Observation of the brown product obtained from C60 and the CTV derivative 1 directly after preparation by polarized optical microscopy revealed a fluid birefringent phase at room temperature corresponding to a nematic phase. When the sample is heated above 70 °C, the birefringence of the texture under the microscope disappears and the X-ray diffraction pattern is irreversibly transformed into a pattern characteristic of a cubic phase.