Effects of induction interactions on the orientational order of solutes in liquid crystals

In a recent paper (di Matteo, A.; Ferrarini, A.; Moro, G. J. J. Phys. Chem. B 2000, 104, 7764) a method to derive a mean field potential for molecules in nematic phases based on their structure and charge distribution has been presented. The potential consists of a shape and a reaction field contribution, accounting for short range and electrostatic intermolecular interactions, respectively. The model is extended here by introducing induction interactions in the reaction field. In the spirit of our approach, aimed at a realistic picture at a semiphenomenological level, an appropriate description is obtained in terms of distributed polarizabilities. The Thole model of interacting damped atom dipoles has been singled out as a suitable one, although also different choices have been considered. The orientational order parameters calculated in this way for a set of typical polar and nonpolar solutes in nematic solvents are reported, and the influence of induction interactions is discussed.