Chiral liquid crystals based on pillararene and supramolecular self-assembly-induced chirality amplification

Macrocyclic liquid crystals combine the unique property of liquid crystals and excellent supramolecular assembly ability of macrocyclic compounds.It is a significant challenge to make rational use of the advantages of macrocyclic compounds to prepare new macrocyclic mesogens.Pillararenes,a type of macrocycles with rigid pillar-shaped frameworks and easy-tofunctionalize property,are excellent building blocks to fabricate liquid crystal materials.However,the site-selective modification property of pillararene has been rarely exploited to tailor liquid crystal behaviors.Previously reported pillararene-based liquid crystal systems are almost prepared by per-functionalized pillararenes.Herein,we report the regulation of chiral liquid crystal behaviors by different derivatization of pillararene.Lyotropic and thermotropic liquid crystals with different chirality were obtained by self-assembly of pillararene with different numbers of cholesterol groups.The bridge between thermotropic liquid crystal and lyotropic liquid crystal based on pillararene is built.In addition,the chirality of the mesogens can be amplified through supramolecular self-assembly driven by noncovalent interactions.Based on the different liquid crystal behaviors,the optical signal of the pillararene-based chiral liquid crystals was used to fabricate an information encryption system.This work provides a simple strategy to regulate liquid crystal behaviors via pillararene-based mesogens and realizes information encryption through the combination of different types of liquid crystals.