The synthesis of a cholesteric diacrylate using enzymatic resolution

Chiral nematic or cholesteric diacrylates are used to form cholesteric networks. In order to he able to investigate the effect of the position of the chiral center in the spacer of these molecules on the molecular pitch, we synthesized a chiral liquid crystalline diacrylate whose chiral center was close to the mesogenic group. To obtain high enantiomeric excess, we applied an enzymatic resolution on one of the intermediates. The diacrylate showed a larger cholesteric pitch and a smaller cholesteric temperature range than other related compounds in which the chiral center of the same structure is positioned further away from the mesogenic group.