Chloroanthraquinones were found to undergo facile Suzuki–cross coupling with substituted phenyl boronic acids using a commercial catalyst Pd(PPh3)4 and with Pd(PPh3)4 prepared in situ from Pd(PPh3)2Cl2 and PPh3.
In the search of the predicted biaxial nematic phase, a series of shape-persistent board-shaped mesogens with maximum molecular biaxiality and a dipole along the minor molecular axis were designed to form nematic (N) mesophases.