This chapter describes the influence of micromolecular structure on selfassembly
macroscopic properties of liquid crystalline ordered systems and focuses on
structure-properties relationships of some thermotropic monosubstituted ferrocenomesogens
obtained in our research group. The structural features evaluated are the
connectivity between ferrocene and mesogenic units, the number of aromatic rings and
the types of linking and ending groups responsible for mesomorphic behavior. It is
shown that systems based on monosubstituted ferrocene derivatives exhibit unique
liquid crystalline properties which may be used for designing materials with specific
functions and properties. The aim of this paper is to present essentially the work carried
out in our laboratory over a period of 10 years therefore; this chapter will focus on the
main conclusions drawn on our own synthesized ferrocenomesogens.
Keywords: Anisotropic molecular structure, Azobenzene, Azo-aromatic
compounds, Calamitic, Cholesteryl esters, Cholesteric mesophases, Differential
scanning calorimetry (DSC), Ferrocene, Ferrocenomesogens, Flexible aliphatic
chains, Metallomesogens, Molecular modelling, Multifunctional materials,
Nematic, Optical polarized microscopy (OPM), Schiff Bases, Smectic, Structure -
mesomorphic properties relationship, Thermotropic liquid crystals, Thermal
degradation.