Orientational order of liquid crystals by 11B NMR spectroscopy

The use of B-11 NMR spectroscopy to obtain information on the orientational order of a borinated calamitic liquid crystal (4DBF2) was here shown for the first time. The combination of spectra recorded on a liquid crystalline sample uniformly aligned in the magnetic field, giving access to quadrupolar splittings, with solid state stationary and MAS spectra recorded on a powdered sample, providing the quadrupolar parameters useful for the interpretation of the quadrupolar splittings, can be seen as a self-consisting method of general applicability to liquid crystals containing boron atoms on the molecular core.