All-trans 2,7-dialkylperhydrophenanthrene as a solvent for measurements of helical twisting power and linear dichroism

The values of twisting power of a chiral bridged binaphthyl and (+)-trans-stilbene oxide in a rigid hydrocarbon perhydrophenanthrene nematic are much smaller than in conformationally flexible nematics, indicating the importance of the solvent structure for cholesteric induction. The perhydrophenanthrene phase constitutes an excellent solvent for linear dichroism measurements of anthracene but it is unable to orient 9,9′-spirobifluorene.