Resumen de Preparation of a Surface-Oriented Liquid Crystal. An Experiment for the Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Laboratory
Charles A. Liberko, Jonathan Shearer
In this laboratory experiment, sophomore-level organic chemistry students use a simple procedure to prepare a room-temperature liquid crystal, MBBA. The preparation can be carried out in about one hour with high yields. The students then prepare ordered samples of the liquid crystal and observe their optical properties. This exercise utilizes a fairly traditional laboratory preparation of a compound but also serves as an introduction to liquid crystals and materials chemistry. It has been quite popular with the students and has minimal equipment needs.
