The synthesis of novel ionic liquid crystals (ILCs) based on bis- and trisimidazolium salts (I-, BF4-, and [N(SO2CF3)2]-) bearing hydrophobic hexadecyl chains and a bridging mesitylene moiety is reported. The study of their mesomorphic properties is presented, including the characterization of the Smectic A phase by differential scanning calorimetry and polarized optical microscopy. A detailed powder X-ray diffraction (p-XRD) study as a function of temperature confirmed that cooling gives rise to a glass transition from the liquid-crystalline smectic A phase to a metastable lamellar phase. In addition, in the case of bisimidazolium iodide, the ability of these molecules to form self-aggregates in solution has been demonstrated by diffusion nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments.

International audienceHybrid silica materials containing the di-(2-pyridyl)methylamine-palladium dichloride complex, prepared by sol-gel cogelification, are efficient recyclable catalysts for Suzuki (aryl bromides and chlorides), Heck (aryl bromides) and Sonogashira reactions (aryl iodides and bromides). Formation of palladium(0) nanoparticles is observed in the Suzuki and Heck reactions but not in the Sonogashira coupling