Heliconical smectic phases formed by achiral molecules.

Chiral symmetry breaking in soft matter is a hot topic of current research. Recently, such a phenomenon was found in a fluidic phase showing orientational order of molecules-the nematic phase; although built of achiral molecules, the phase can exhibit structural chirality-average molecular direction follows a short-pitch helix. Here, we report a series of achiral asymmetric dimers with an odd number of atoms in the spacer, which form twisted structures in nematic as well as in lamellar phases. The tight pitch heliconical nematic (NTB) phase and heliconical tilted smectic C (SmCTB) phase are formed. The formation of a variety of helical structures is accompanied by a gradual freezing of molecular rotation. In the lowest temperature smectic phase, HexI, the twist is expressed through the formation of hierarchical structure: nanoscale helices and mesoscopic helical filaments. The short-pitch helical structure in the smectic phases is confirmed by resonant X-ray measurements.

Weak C-H···O and C-H···π hydrogen bonds and π-π stacking interactions in a series of four N'-[(E)-(aryl)methylidene]-N-methyl-2-oxo-1,3-oxazolidine-4-carbohydrazides.

Oxazolidin-2-ones are widely used as protective groups for 1,2-amino alcohols and chiral derivatives are employed as chiral auxiliaries. The crystal structures of four differently substituted oxazolidinecarbohydrazides, namely N'-[(E)-benzylidene]-N-methyl-2-oxo-1,3-oxazolidine-4-carbohydrazide, C12H12N3O3, (I), N'-[(E)-2-chlorobenzylidene]-N-methyl-2-oxo-1,3-oxazolidine-4-carbohydrazide, C12H12ClN3O3, (II), (4S)-N'-[(E)-4-chlorobenzylidene]-N-methyl-2-oxo-1,3-oxazolidine-4-carbohydrazide, C12H12ClN3O3, (III), and (4S)-N'-[(E)-2,6-dichlorobenzylidene]-N,3-dimethyl-2-oxo-1,3-oxazolidine-4-carbohydrazide, C13H13Cl2N3O3, (IV), show that an unexpected mild-condition racemization from the chiral starting materials has occurred in (I) and (II). In the extended structures, the centrosymmetric phases, which each crystallize with two molecules (A and B) in the asymmetric unit, form A+B dimers linked by pairs of N-H···O hydrogen bonds, albeit with different O-atom acceptors. One dimer is composed of one molecule with an S configuration for its stereogenic centre and the other with an R configuration, and possesses approximate local inversion symmetry. The other dimer consists of either R,R or S,S pairs and possesses approximate local twofold symmetry. In the chiral structure, N-H···O hydrogen bonds link the molecules into C(5) chains, with adjacent molecules related by a 21 screw axis. A wide variety of weak interactions, including C-H···O, C-H···Cl, C-H···π and π-π stacking interactions, occur in these structures, but there is little conformity between them.

Different hydrogen-bonded chains in the crystal structures of three alkyl N-[(E)-1-(2-benzyl-idene-1-methyl-hydrazin-yl)-3-hy-droxy-1-oxopropan-2-yl]carbamates.

The crystal structures of three methyl-ated hydrazine carbamate derivatives prepared by multi-step syntheses from l-serine are presented, namely benzyl N-{(E)-1-[2-(4-cyanobenzylidene)-1-methylhydrazinyl]-3-hydroxy-1-oxopro-pan-2-yl}carbamate, C20H20N4O4, tert-butyl N-{(E)-1-[2-(4-cyanobenzylidene)-1-methylhydrazinyl]-3-hydroxy-1-oxopropan-2-yl}carbamate, C17H22N4O4, and tert-butyl N-[(E)-1-(2-benzylidene-1-methylhydrazinyl)-3-hydroxy-1-oxopro-pan-2-yl]carbamate, C16H23N3O4. One of them shows that an unexpected racemization has occurred during the mild-condition methyl-ation reaction. In each crystal structure, the mol-ecules are linked into chains by O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, but with significant differences between them.