Patent ID: 7115755

Claim:
A reactive mesogenic azulene compound of the formula I P—Sp—T—R 1 I wherein P is CH 2 ═CW 1 —COO—, CH 2 ═CW 2 —(O) k1 —, CH 3 —CH═CH—O—, HO—CW 2 W 3 , HS—CW 2 W 3 , HW 2 N—,HO—CW 2 W 3 —NH—, CH 2 ═CW 1 —CO—NH—, CH 2 ═—CH—(COO) k1 —Phe—(O) k2 —, Phe-CH═CH—, HOOC—, OCN— and W 4 W 5 W 6 Si—, with W 1 being H, Cl, CN, phenyl or alkyl with 1 to 5 C-atoms, W 2 and W 3 being independently of each other H or alkyl with 1 to 5 C-atoms, W 4 , W 5 and W 6 being independently of each other Cl, oxaalkyl or oxacarbonylalkyl with 1 to 5 C-atoms, Phe being 1,4-phenylene and k 1 and k 2 being independently of each other 0 or 1, S p is a single bond or a linear or branched alkylene group having 1 to 20 C atoms, in which one or more non-adjacent CH 2 groups are optionally replaced by —O—, —S—, —NH—, —N(CH 3 )—, —CO—, —O—CO—, —S—CO—, —O—COO—, —CO—S—, —CO—O—, —CH(halogen)—, —C(halogen) 2 , —CH(CN)—, —CH═CH— or —C≡C—, or a siloxane group, R 1 is H, halogen, CN, NO 2 , an aliphatic, alicyclic or aromatic group with up to 40 C atoms that optionally comprises one or more hetero atoms and one or more fused rings, or a group P—Sp—, and T is a mesogenic group of the formula II —Z 1 —(A 1 —Z 2 ) m —(T 1 —Z 3 ) n —(A 2 —Z 4 ) o — II wherein A 1 and 2 are independently of each other an aromatic or heteroaromatic group with up to 18 C atoms which is unsubstituted, mono- or polysubstituted with R 1 , and A 1 may also denote T 1 , Z 1 to Z 4 are independently of each other —O—, —S—, —CO—, —COO—, —OCO—, —O—COO—, —CO—NR 0 —, —NR 0 —CO—, —OCH 2 —, —CH 2 O—, —SCH 2 —, —CH 2 S—, —CF 2 O—, —OCF 2 —, —CF 2 S—, —SCF 2 —, —CH 2 CH 2 —, —CF 2 CH 2 —, —CH 2 CF 2 —, —CF 2 CF 2 —, —CH═N—, —N═CH—, —N═N—, —CH═CR 0 —, —CX 1 ═CX 2 —, —C≡C—, —CH═CH—COO—, —OCO—CH═CH—or a single bond, X 1 and X 2 are independently of each other H, F, Cl or CN, T 2 is a group consisting of 1,2,3, or 4 azulene groups which are optionally substituted by R 2 , R 2 is H, halogen, CN, NO 2 , straight chain, branched or cyclic alkyl with 1 to 20 C-atoms, which is unsubstituted, mono- or poly-substituted by F, Cl, Br, I or CN, wherein one or more non-adjacent CH 2 groups are optionally replaced, in each case independently from one another, by —O—, —S—, —NH—, —NR 0 —, —SiR 0 R 00 —, —CO—, —COO—, —OCO—, —OCO—O—, —S—CO—, —CO—S—, —CH═CH— or —C═C—in such a manner that O and/or S atoms are not linked directly to one another, or denotes an aromatic or heteroaromatic group or a group P—S p , R 0 and R 00 are independently of each other H or alkyl with 1 to 12 C-atoms, m and o are independently of each other 0, 1, 2 or 3, and n is 1, 2or3.