A series of copper(II) salen complexes containing 4-substituted alkoxy chains of aromatic rings, [Cu((4-C n H 2n+1 O) 2 salen)] (n = 3 (1), 4 (2), 6 (3), 8 (4), 10 (5), 12 (6), 14 (7), 16 (8), 18 (9), and 20 (10) ) and salen=N, N'-ethylenebis(salicylideneiminato)) has been prepared and single crystal structures of 2 H 2 O, 4, and 6 by an X-ray crystallographic analysis have been revealed. Complexes 4 and 6 form tetrahedrally distorted square planer structure with onedimensional polymeric stacking by van der Waals interaction between the dramatically distorted salen moieties. Complexes 1 -3 did not exhibit any mesophases, but complexes 4-10 with longer alkoxy chains of n=8-20 showed the metallomesogen of a lamellocolumnar (ColL) mesophase in the smectic layers with the nearly constant stacking distances, 2 irrespective of the variation of the alkoxy chain lengths by the X-ray diffraction measurements, which show similar behaviors to the corresponding Ni(II) complexes of n=14-20. The molecular assemblies and mesomorphic properties in relation to the single crystal structures of 4 and 6 with the liquid crystals at higher temperature are discussed.
KeywordsCu(II) complexes, salen ligand with 4-substituted long alkoxy chains, crystal structure, metallomesogen