Design of V-shaped ionic liquid crystals: atropisomerisation ability and formation of double-gyroid molecular assemblies

We designed V-shaped ionic liquid crystals with two sterically congested ionic parts at the vertex. Depending on the degree of steric hindrance, atropisomerisation occurred in solution. All compounds formed bicontinuous cubic phases with double-gyroid structures in the bulk state, partially owing to the co-existence of atropisomers with opposite chirality. We designed a series of V-shaped ionic liquid crystals with two sterically congested ionic parts at the vertex, which formed bicontinuous cubic phases with gyroid nanostructures.