Discotic mesophase of copper(II) laurate

Copper(II) laurate (copper dodecanoate) shows a discotic mesophase at temperatures above 107°C. This mesophase is characterized by a hexagonal columnar lattice with a repeat distance of about 20 A. Each column is made of stacked units with a period of about 4.7 A. The repeating unit in a column is the binuclear complex Cu 2 (C 11 H 23 CO 2 ) 4 which is the first example of a discotic mesogen with only four peripheral chains showing a thermotropic hexagonal mesophase Formation d'une phase discotique aux temperatures superieures a 107°C, caracterisee par un reseau hexagonal de colonnes distantes d'environ 20 A. Ces colonnes resultent de l'empilement de motifs elementaires distants d'environ 4,7 A. Le motif elementaire est le complexe binucleaire Cu 2 (C 11 H 23 CO 2 ) 4 qui constitue le premier mesogene discotique a quatre chaines peripheriques donnant une mesophase hexagonale thermotrope