This study describes the synthesis, liquid crystal and photophysical properties of fluorescent biscyanovinyl diphenylcarbazole-based hexacatenars. The mesomorphic and thermodynamic properties were investigated by using polarized optical microscopy (POM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), revealing that these compounds self-assemble into different columnar phase with extremely wide mesophase range. Upon terminal chain elongation and temperature increment, a mesophase transition from Col_rec/p2mm to Col_hex/p6mm could be observed. The UV–vis absorption, fluorescence emission, fluorescence quantum yields and fluorescence lifetimes were studied in various organic solvents with different polarities, solid state, LC state as well as in THF-water mixtures, indicating that these compounds display significant solvatochromism, large Stokes shifts and extremely bright fluorescence in both solution and aggregated states (AIEE). The density function theory calculations indicate that ICT effect and the twisted geometries are responsible for the large solvent effect and AIEE characteristic, respectively. Additionally, these hexacatenars also showed reversible photoinduced mesophase and fluorescence transition behaviours. The design strategies here provide a new avenue for fabricating functionalized AIE-active luminescent LCs with complex self-assembly structures and photo-responsive behaviours.

这项研究描述了荧光双氰基乙烯基二苯基咔唑基六邻苯二酚的合成，液晶和光物理性质。通过偏光显微镜（POM），差示扫描量热法（DSC）和小角X射线散射（SAXS）研究了介晶和热力学性质，发现这些化合物自组装成具有宽中间相的不同柱状相范围。随着末端链的延长和温度的升高，中间相从Col _rec / p 2 mm过渡到Col _hex / p 6 mm可以观察到。在具有不同极性，固态，LC状态以及THF-水混合物的各种有机溶剂中研究了UV-vis吸收，荧光发射，荧光量子产率和荧光寿命，这表明这些化合物显示出显着的溶剂致变色性，大斯托克斯位移在溶液态和聚集态（AIEE）中都具有非常明亮的荧光。密度函数理论计算表明，ICT效应和扭曲的几何形状分别是大溶剂效应和AIEE特性的原因。此外，这些六邻苯二酚还显示出可逆的光诱导中间相和荧光转变行为。