Two optically pure derivatives of dibenzotetraaza[14]annulene, bearing four (S)- or (R)- 3,7-dimethyloctoxy peripheral chiral tails, respectively, and two hydroxybenzoyl
meso
substituents were
synthesized using a convergent multi-step route. The structure of the products was determined by $^{1}\textrm{H}$
and $^{13}\textrm{C}$ NMR spectroscopy, ESI-MS, and elemental analysis. The mesomorphic behavior of the two chiral
compounds, deciphered by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), small-angle X-ray diffractometry
(SA-XRD), and polarizing optical microscopy (POM) investigations, revealed the induction of two
lamello-columnar phases, i.e., columnar stacks con
fi
ned in smectic layers, whose columns may be ar-
ranged either according to the
pg
rectangular planar symmetry (for the low-temperature phase) or
without registry between vicinal layers (for the high-temperature mesophase). Evidence of a helical
organization of the molecules in the mesophases was obtained using a combination of electronic circular
dichroism (ECD) and SA-XRD results, Molecular Dynamics simulations and quantum-chemical
calculations.