The disclosure discusses chiral dopants for liquid-crystalline materials. Chiral dopants can be bioreachable compounds, i.e. compounds produced from microbes through fermentation. Chiral dopants can also include bioreachable materials that are further modified by chemical synthetic steps. Chiral dopants as discussed herein can include biomolecules such as glycyrrhetinic acid (1), S-narigenin (2), shikimic acid (3), alpha-phellandrene (4), betulin (5), malic acid (6), valencene (7), or nootkatone (8), and any stereoisomers or chemically modified derivatives thereof. The disclosure further shows optical properties of such compounds in a liquid-crystalline material.

The present invention relates to an LC medium comprising and a liquid-crystalline host consisting of an LC component H) comprising one or more mesogenic or liquid-crystalline compounds and an optically active component D) and optionally a polymerizable component P) comprising one or more polymerizable compounds; and to the use of the polymerizable compounds and LC media for optical, electro-optical and electronic purposes, in particular in LC displays, especially in LC displays of the polymer sustained alignment type.

Liquid-crystalline media containing one or more mesogenic compounds, one or more chiral compounds, and one or more polymerizable mesogenic compounds, wherein the media exhibit a pitch of 0.55 μm or more and a clearing point of 80° C. or more and wherein the one or more polymerizable mesogenic compounds are contained in an amount, based on the overall contents of the media, of 5% by weight or less, are suitable as modulation materials. Such modulation materials can be used in switching layers and window elements.

The disclosure discusses chiral dopants for liquid-crystalline materials. Chiral dopants can be bioreachable compounds, i.e. compounds produced from microbes through fermentation. Chiral dopants can also include bioreachable materials that are further modified by chemical synthetic steps. Chiral dopants as discussed herein can include biomolecules such as glycyrrhetinic acid (1), S-naringenin (2), shikimic acid (3), alpha-phellandrene (4), betulin (5), malic acid (6), valencene (7), or nootkatone (8), and any stereoisomers or chemically modified derivatives thereof. The disclosure further shows optical properties of such compounds in a liquid-crystalline material.

The invention relates to a polymerizable LC material comprising one or more reactive mesogenic compounds, one or more chiral compounds and one or more compounds of formula I,

##STR00001##

wherein the individual radicals have one of the meaning as given in the claims. Furthermore, the present invention relates also to a method for its preparation, a polymer film with improved thermal and UV stability obtainable from a corresponding polymerizable LC material, to a method of preparation of such polymer film, and to the use of such polymer film and said polymerizable LC material in optical, electro-optical, decorative or security devices.

Provided are a decorative material including a pressure sensitive adhesive layer and a cholesteric liquid crystal layer in contact with the pressure sensitive adhesive layer, in which, in the cholesteric liquid crystal layer, a content of a compound having a molecular weight of 10,000 or less per unit volume of the cholesteric liquid crystal layer is less than 44 mg/cm.sup.3; and applications thereof.

A liquid-crystalline medium which comprises at least one compound selected from the group of compounds of the formulae IA to IH,

##STR00001##

in which Z.sup.1 denotes a single bond, —CH.sub.2CH.sub.2—, —CH═CH—, —CH.sub.2O—, —OCH.sub.2—, —CF.sub.2O—, —OCF.sub.2—, —COO—, —OCO—, —C.sub.2F.sub.4—, —(CH.sub.2).sub.4—, —CHFCHF—, —CF.sub.2CH.sub.2—, —CH.sub.2CF.sub.2—, —C≡C—, —CF═CF—, —CH═CHCHO— or —CH.sub.2CF.sub.2O—,
and the use thereof for an active-matrix display, in particular based on the VA, PSA, PS-VA, PALC, FFS, PS-FFS, SA-VA, PS-IPS or IPS effect.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a reflective layer having an excellent diffuse reflectivity and a wide reflection wavelength range. Another object of the present invention is to provide a reflective layer having an excellent diffuse reflectivity and a wide reflection wavelength range. The method for producing a reflective layer of the present invention includes: a step 1 of applying a composition selected from the group consisting of the following composition X and the following composition Y onto a substrate to form a composition layer; a step 2 of heating the composition layer to align a liquid crystal compound in the composition layer into a cholesteric liquid crystalline phase state; a step 3 of cooling or heating the composition layer in a cholesteric liquid crystalline phase state to reduce a helical pitch; and a step 4 of irradiating at least a partial region of the composition layer with light, between the step 1 and the step 2, between the step 2 and the step 3, or after the step 3, to photosensitize a chiral agent A or a chiral agent C in the composition layer. Composition X: a composition including a liquid crystal compound, a chiral agent A whose helical twisting power is changed upon light irradiation, and a chiral agent B whose helical twisting power is increased upon cooling or heating. Composition Y: a composition including a liquid crystal compound and a chiral agent C whose helical twisting power is changed upon light irradiation and whose helical twisting power is increased upon cooling or heating.

A first objective of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal composition for forming a cholesteric liquid crystal layer having excellent characteristics capable of reflecting light incident on a layer surface from a normal direction in a direction other than the normal direction. In addition, a second object of the present invention is to provide a cholesteric liquid crystal layer formed of the liquid crystal composition. In addition, a third object of the present invention is to provide a cured substance obtained by curing the liquid crystal composition. In addition, a fourth object of the present invention is to provide an optically anisotropic body formed of the liquid crystal composition, and an optically anisotropic body consisting of the cholesteric liquid crystal layer. In addition, a fifth object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a cholesteric liquid crystal layer using the liquid crystal composition.

The liquid crystal composition of the present invention contains a liquid crystal compound, a chiral agent A, and a chiral agent B whose helical twisting power increases upon irradiation with light, in which the chiral agent A is a chiral agent that induces a helix in a direction opposite to that of a helix induced by the chiral agent B.

One embodiment of the invention is to provide a decorative film for molding including a reflective layer which is provided on a plastic base material and has a center wavelength of a selective reflection wavelength in a range of from 380 nm to 780 nm, in which an elastic modulus of the reflective layer at a temperature of a glass transition temperature (Tg) of the plastic base material +10° C. is from 0.00001 GPa to 0.5 GPa; a molded product of the decorative film for molding; and a display to which the molded product is applied.