Alignment compounds

1. A compound represented by the following Formula (I):

wherein,

Ring-A is phenyl,

E is N or C—R 1 ,

D is selected from the group consisting of O, S, and N—R 2 ,

wherein R 1 of E and R 2 of D are each independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, linear or branched C 1 -C 10 alkyl, linear or branched C 2 -C 10 alkenyl, C 3 -C 10 cycloalkyl, and phenyl,

L 1 and L 4 are each independently selected from at least one of:

a single bond; —O—; —S—; —C(O)—; —S(O)—; —SO 2 —; —N═N—; and —N(R 11 ′)— where R 11 ′ is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, linear or branched C 1 -C 10 alkyl, C 3 -C 10 cycloalkyl, and phenyl;

t is 0 to 4,

s is, independently for each g, from 1 to 4,

g is 0 to 6, provided that the sum of t and g is at least 1,

m is, independently for each t, from 0 to 4, provided that m is at least 1 for at least one t,

q is, independently for each s, from 0 to 4, provided that q is at least 1 for at least one s,

L 2 independently for each m, and L 5 independently for each q, are in each case independently selected from the group consisting of divalent linear or branched C 1 -C 10 alkyl, divalent interrupted linear or branched C 1 -C 10 alkyl, wherein each divalent interrupted linear or branched C 1 -C 10 alkyl is independently interrupted with at least one interrupting group selected from the group consisting of —O—, —C(O)O—, and —OC(O)O—,

p is, independently for each t, from 1 to 4,

r is, independently for each s, from 1 to 4,

L 3 independently for each p, and L 6 independently for each r, are in each case independently represented by the following Formula (II-2),

Y is, independently for each p and independently for each r, a divalent linking group selected from the group consisting of a single bond, —O—, —S—, —C(O)—, —C(O)O—, and —OC(O)O—,

v and u are each independently, for each p and each r, 0 to 5, provided that the sum of v and u is at least 2,

Z is, independently for each v, a divalent linking group selected from the group consisting of a single bond, —O—, —S—, —C(O)—, —C(O)O—, and —OC(O)O—,

wherein the divalent rings,

are each independently selected, for each v and each u, from the group consisting of phenylen-1,4-diyl, cyclohexan-1,4-diyl, pyrimidin-2,5-diyl, pyridine-2,5-diyl, naphthalene-2,6-diyl, 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene-2,6-diyl, decahydronaphthalene-2,6-diyl, indane-2,5(6)-diyl, fluorene-2,-7-diyl, phenanthrene-2,7-diyl, 9,10-dihydrophenanthrene-2,7-diyl, (1,3,4)thiadiazol-2,5-diyl, (1,3)thiazol-2,5-diyl, (1,3)thiazol-2,4-diyl, thiophen-2,4-diyl, thiophen-2,5-diyl, (1,3)dioxan-2,5-diyl, piperidin-1,4-diyl, and, piperazin-1,4-diyl, and

E 1 and E 2 are each independently selected from the group consisting of linear or branched C 1 -C 10 alkyl, and interrupted linear or branched C 1 -C 10 alkyl, wherein each interrupted linear or branched C 1 -C 10 alkyl is independently interrupted with at least one interrupting group selected from the group consisting of —O— and —C(O)O—,

provided that each of E 1 and E 2 independently is, or is independently substituted with, at least one reactive group selected from the group consisting of (linear or branched C 1 -C 8 alkyl)acryloyl, unsubstituted styrene, substituted styrene, oxirane, thiirane, unsubstituted cyclic carboxylic acid ester, substituted cyclic carboxylic acid ester, cyclic carboxylic acid anhydride, thiol, amine, isocyanate, and combinations thereof,

provided that a direct L 1 -L 2 link between L 1 and L 2 is free of two heteroatoms linked together, a direct L 1 -L 3 link between L 1 and L 3 is free of two heteroatoms linked together, and each direct L 2 -L 3 link between each directly linked L 2 and L 3 is free of two heteroatoms linked together, and

further provided that a direct L 4 -L 5 link between L 4 and L 5 is free of two heteroatoms linked together, a direct L 4 -L 6 link between L 4 and L 6 is free of two heteroatoms linked together, and each direct L 5 -L 6 link between each directly linked L 5 and L 6 is free of two heteroatoms linked together, and

wherein at least one of L 3 and L 6 independently is a mesogenic group, and said compound is a mesogenic compound.

2. The compound of claim 1 wherein,

each of E 1 and E 2 independently is, or is independently substituted with, at least one reactive group selected from the group consisting of (meth)acryloyl, unsubstituted styrene, substituted styrene, oxirane, thiirane, unsubstituted cyclic carboxylic acid ester, substituted cyclic carboxylic acid ester, cyclic carboxylic acid anhydride, thiol, and combinations thereof.

3. The compound of claim 2 wherein,

R 1 of E and R 2 of D are each independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and linear or branched C 1 -C 10 alkyl,

independently for each L 3 , and independently for each L 6 ,

Z is, independently for each v, selected from the group consisting of a single bond, —O— and —C(O)O—, and

the divalent rings,

are each independently selected, for each v and each u, from the group consisting of phenylen-1,4-diyl, and cyclohexan-1,4-diyl, substituted cyclohexan 1,4 diyl, and

E 1 and E 2 are each independently selected from the group consisting of linear or branched C 1 -C 10 alkyl, and interrupted linear or branched C 1 -C 10 alkyl, wherein each interrupted linear or branched C 1 -C 10 alkyl is independently interrupted with at least one interrupting group selected from the group consisting of —O— and —C(O)O—,

provided that each of E 1 and E 2 independently is, or is substituted with, at least one reactive group selected from the group consisting of (meth)acryloyl, unsubstituted styrene, substituted styrene, oxirane, thiirane, unsubstituted cyclic carboxylic acid ester, substituted cyclic carboxylic acid ester, cyclic carboxylic acid anhydride, thiol, and combinations thereof.

4. The compound of claim 3 wherein,

E 1 and E 2 are each independently selected from the group consisting of linear or branched C 1 -C 10 alkyl, and interrupted linear or branched C 1 -C 10 alkyl, wherein each interrupted linear or branched C 1 -C 10 alkyl is independently interrupted with at least one interrupting group selected from the group consisting of —O— and —C(O)O—,

provided that each of E 1 and E 2 independently is, or is independently substituted with, (meth)acryloyl.

5. The compound of claim 3 , wherein D is O.

6. The compound of claim 1 , wherein L 1 and L 4 are each independently selected from the group consisting of one of the following Formulas IIIa, IIIc, IIIe, or IIIf,

wherein R b is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, linear or branched C 1 -C 10 alkyl, C 3 -C 10 cycloalkyl, and phenyl, and

wherein R c and R d are each independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, linear or branched C 1 -C 10 alkyl, C 3 -C 10 cycloalkyl, and phenyl.

7. The compound of claim 2 , wherein at least one of, divalent Ring-(B) and divalent Ring-(C), are each independently selected from the group consisting of phenylen-1,4-diyl, pyrimidin-2,5-diyl, pyridine-2,5-diyl, naphthalene-2,6-diyl, and phenanthrene-2,7-diyl.

8. The compound of claim 3 , wherein each L 3 and each L 6 , are in each case independently selected from the group consisting of the following formulas,

9. The compound of claim 1 wherein,

E 1 is, or is substituted with, a reactive group selected from the group consisting of oxirane, thiirane, unsubstituted cyclic carboxylic acid ester, substituted cyclic carboxylic acid ester, cyclic carboxylic acid anhydride, and isocyanate, and

E 2 is, or is substituted with, a reactive group selected from the group consisting of thiol, and amine.