Study of order and dynamics in liquid crystalline materials by carbon-13 and deuterium NMR spectroscopy

This dissertation investigates the phase structures, molecular structures and diffusion motions in some recently discovered liquid crystals using 1D and 2D carbon-13 and deuterium NMR spectroscopy. Two classes of liquid crystals are involved: chiral rod-like liquid crystals and banana mesogens. Our investigations of these new materials were divided into five main sections.;The soliton-like distortion of the helicoidal structure in the chiral smectic C phase (SmC*) of 8BEF5 liquid crystal was observed by the angular dependent DNMR patterns, and quantitatively interpreted based on Landau theory. The distortion was induced by the NMR magnetic field.;The phase structure and interlayer diffusion in anticlinic Sm C* phases (Sm$C*A$, Sm$C*Fi1$ and Sm$C*Fi2$) of 10B1M7 liquid crystal were measured using angular dependent DNMR lineshapes and echo intensities. This work represents the first study of ferrielectric smectic phases by means of NMR.;Measurements of the interlayer diffusion in synclinic and anticlinic SmC* phases (SmC*, Sm$C*Fi1$ and Sm$C*Fi2$) of 10B1M7 were carried out using 2H NMR exchange experiments. The phase structures of anticlinic SmC* phases were also determined using the same technique. A 'deformed clock model' was found to be appropriate for these phases.;The ordering and structures of banana liquid crystals and chiral rod-like mesogens were extracted from solid-state 13C NMR experiments including Separated-Local-Field study based on Lee-Goldberg Cross-Polarization (LGCP-SLF) and temperature dependent chemical shifts. The principal values of CSA tensor were measured using Separation of Undistorted CSA Powder patterns by Effortless Recoupling (SUPER) experiment. Some ID and 2D pulse experiments were performed for the assignment of carbon peaks, such as Cross-Polarization Polarization-Inversion (CPPI), HECTOR and so on.;Molecular structures and dynamics were investigated in an exotic B ₂ phase of a banana liquid crystal Pbis11BB by means of CP-MAS 13C NMR, MAS 2D 13C NMR exchange and LGCP-SLF (with MAS) experiments. These experiments showed that the molecules have asymmetric conformation in the solid state and carry on much slower motions in solid and liquid states compared to banana molecules in the same homologous series.