Mesogenic behaviour of metal carboxylates has been an important area of study, since many of them exhibit smectic C mesophases, and as such, have potential use in ferroelectric liquid crystal displays (LCDs). As a result, the study of thermal phase transitions of various mono- and divalent metal carboxylates has been a focus. Of keen interest are zinc(II) n-alkanoates, since there remain some unanswered questions regarding the characteristics and dynamics of their phase behaviour. As with materials in the solid state, there is a correlation between structural features and properties, and for compounds that display thermotropic mesomorphism, there must be a firm understanding of the relationship between structure, intermolecular interactions, thermophysical properties and phase behaviour. In this study, the thermal behaviour of a homologous series of zinc(II) n-alkanoates are investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and hot-stage polarized light microscopy. From the data, an attempt is made to correlate the thermal behaviour of the compounds with their solid state structures studied using X-ray crystallography and diffraction, IR spectroscopy and molecular calculations.

Richard A. Taylor completed BSc and PhD degrees from the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona Campus, Jamaica. He is currently Lecturer in Inorganic Materials Chemistry at UWI, St. Augustine Campus, Trinidad and Tobago. His current research interests include, Quantum Dots, Semiconductor Thin Films, Liquid Crystals and Metal Organic Frameworks.