This Review covers the recent developments (2005-2015) in the design, synthesis, characterization, and application of thermotropic ionic liquid crystals. It was designed to give a comprehensive overview of the "state-of-the-art" in the field. The discussion is focused on low molar mass and dendrimeric thermotropic ionic mesogens, as well as selected metal-containing compounds (metallomesogens), but some references to polymeric and/or lyotropic ionic liquid crystals and particularly to ionic liquids will also be provided. Although zwitterionic and mesoionic mesogens are also treated to some extent, emphasis will be directed toward liquid-crystalline materials consisting of organic cations and organic/inorganic anions that are not covalently bound but interact via electrostatic and other noncovalent interactions.

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N-alkyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium cations have been used for the design of ionic liquid crystals, including a new type of uranium-containing metallomesogen. Pyrrolidinium salts with bromide, bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, tetrafluoroborate, hexafluorophosphate, thiocyanate, tetrakis(2- thenoyltrifluoroacetonato)europate(III) and tetrabromouranyl counteranions were prepared. For the bromide salts and tetrabromouranyl compounds, the chain length of the alkyl group C(n)H(2n+1) was varied from eight to twenty carbon atoms (n = 8, 10-20). The compounds show rich mesomorphic behaviour: highly ordered smectic phases (the crystal smectic E phase and the uncommon crystal smectic T phase), smectic A phases, and hexagonal columnar phases were observed, depending on chain length and anion. This work gives better insight into the nature and formation of the crystal smectic T phase, and the molecular requirements for the appearance of this highly ordered phase. This uncommon tetragonal mesophase is thoroughly discussed on the basis of detailed powder X-ray diffraction experiments and in relation to the existing literature. Structural models are proposed for self-assembly of the molecules within the smectic layers. In addition, the photophysical properties of the compounds containing a metal complex anion were investigated. For the uranium-containing mesogens, luminescence can be induced by dissolving them in an ionic liquid matrix. The europium-containing compound shows intense red photoluminescence with high colour purity.

Poly(2-alkyl/aryl-2-oxazoline)s (PAOx) have been gaining increasing attention because they combine biocompatibility with so-called stealth behavior, making them ideal candidates for use in a wide variety of biomedical applications. Especially, the possibility of side-chain modification makes them a valuable alternative to poly(ethylene glycol), currently the gold standard amongst biocompatible polymers. Nevertheless, the cationic ring opening polymerization of 2-oxazolines is not compatible with nucleophilic entities, for example hydroxyl and amine moieties. Therefore, the modular approach of 'click chemistry' offers an elegant strategy towards functional PAOx by postpolymerization modification of PAOx that contain clickable groups. This feature describes the synthesis of PAOx with such clickable entities at the chain-end or in the side-chain, as well as their potential (bio)materials applications.