Fluorinated liquid crystals – properties and applications

This critical review begins with a brief, but essential, introduction to the special nature of liquid crystal materials, their peculiar properties, and their commercial applications, followed by an introductory insight into the remarkable nature of the fluoro substituent, and its fascinating influence on the properties of organic compounds. However, the main focus of the review is to discuss the enormous amount of exciting research on fluorinated liquid crystals that has been reported. The small size of the fluoro substituent enables its incorporation into all types of liquid crystal, including calamitic, discotic, banana, lyotropic, and polymers, without ruining the liquid crystalline nature of the material.…