Patent ID: 7108801

Claim:
A method for producing a blend comprising: providing a first phenylene ring consisting essentially of a first functional group at a para-position to a first halogenated carboxylic group; providing a second phenylene ring consisting essentially of a second functional group at a para-position to a second halogenated carboxylic group; providing a third phenylene ring comprising R 2 and comprising a first functionality at a para-position to a second functionality; and forming a mixture comprising said first phenylene rings, said second phenylene rings, and said third phenylene rings; exposing said mixture to first conditions effective to react said first halogenated carboxylic group with said first functionality to produce a first ester bond, said first conditions being effective to react said second halogenated carboxylic group with said second functionality to produce a second ester bond, producing a reaction product comprising said first functional group at position para- to said first ester bond and said second functional group at a position para- to said second ester bond; and treating said reaction product under second conditions effective to produce platform molecules having the following general structure: wherein X and Y comprise hydroxyl groups; R 2 is a bulky organic group whereby, when both X and Y are reacted with polymerizable groups to produce polymerizable mesogens, R 2 provides sufficient steric hindrance to achieve a nematic state at room temperature while suppressing crystallinity of said polymerizable mesogens at room temperature; and, R 1 and R 3 are selected from groups less bulky than R 2 ; and substituting one or more member selected from the group consisting of X and Y with a moiety comprising a polymerizable group.