| abstract |
The novel compounds are aryl-2,3-epoxyalkyl ethers or thioethers or the corresponding thiirane compounds having a mesogenic aromatic component and a chiral component having a three-membered heterocyclic ring, wherein, in the general formula (1), <IMAGE> (I) the symbols have the following meaning: R1=straight-chain or branched (C1-C12) alkyl, where one or two non-neighboring CH2 groups may be replaced by O or S atoms. A=diazine-2,5-diyl or diazine-3,6-diyl, X and Y=O and/or S, and R2, R3 and R4, independently of one another=H, straight-chain (C1-C10) alkyl or branched (C3-C10) alkyl, where R2, R3 and R4 are not simultaneously H. The compounds are preferably employed in tilted smectic liquid-crystal phases which they convert into ferroelectric liquid-crystal phases; they have high values for spontaneous polarization or they induce high values for spontaneous polarization. |