Liquid-crystalline thiol- and disulfide-based dendrimers for the functionalization of gold nanoparticles

Liq. cryst. dendrons carrying either a thiol or disulfide function which display nematic, smectic A, columnar, or chiral nematic phases have been synthesized. Their mesomorphic properties are in agreement with the nature of the mesogenic units and structure of the dendrons. The first-generation poly(aryl ester) dendron contg. two cyanobiphenyl mesogenic units was used to functionalize gold nanoparticles. For full coverage, a smectic-like supramol. organization on the nanometer scale is obsd., when the gold nanoparticles are spread onto carbon-coated copper grids. This results indicates that the dendritic ligands reported here act as self-organization promoters. [on SciFinder(R)]