CHIRALE ARYLOXYPROPIONSAEUREESTER UND IHRE VERWENDUNG ALS DOTIERSTOFF IN FLUESSIGKRISTALL-PHASEN

PCT No. PCT/EP87/00653 Sec. 371 Date May 5, 1989 Sec. 102(e) Date May 5, 1989 PCT Filed Nov. 2, 1987 PCT Pub. No. WO88/03525 PCT Pub. Date May 19, 1988.Arylcarboxylates of 2-hydroxypropionates are known, amongst other compounds, as dopes for converting tilted smectic liquid-crystal phases into ferroelectric liquid-crystal phases. The novel chiral aryloxypropionates of the general formula are two-fold chiral and in which the symbols have the following meaning: R1 denotes a straight-chain alkyl or alkoxy radical having 1 to 16 carbon atoms or a branched alkyl or alkoxy radical having 4 to 16 carbon atoms, it being possible for one or two non-adjacent CH2 groups to be replaced by a sulfur and/or oxygen atom; A denotes one, two or three aromatic or heteroaromatic rings which are linked to one another directly or via one or two COO groups; B denotes a chemical bond or one or two aromatic or heteroaromatic rings which are linked directly to one another; R2 (a) if B is a chemical bond, denotes an alkyl radical having 2 to 10 carbon atoms which contains an asymmetrical carbon atom which is substituted by CH3, halogen or a COOC2H5 group, or an alkyl radical having 3 to 10 carbon atoms which contains two adjacent, asymmetrical carbon atoms of which one is substituted by halogen and the other by a CH3 group, or which, together with an O, form an oxirane ring, or (b) if B denotes one or two aromatic or heteroaromatic rings which are bonded directly to one another, denotes alkoxy radicals having the same number of carbon atoms and the same structure of the alkyl group as under (a).