O. Y. Mindyuk, M. R. Stetzer, P. A. Heiney, J. C. Nelson and J. S. Moore, Adv. Mater. {\bf 10,} 1363-1366 (1998).
Recently, there has been considerable interest in preparing conducting and photoconducting complexes of discotic liquid crystals. Such complexes would ideally possess both the conductive properties of semiconductors and metals as well as the highly anisotropic mechanical, optical and structural properties of liquid crystals. We have used high resolution X-ray diffraction to study the structure of a liquid crystalline conjugated phenylacetylene macrocycle (PAM). PAM forms a tubular columnar liquid crystal with an unexpected distortion and doubling of an underlying hexagonal lattice. Structural studies of PAM doped with a silver salt show that the silver ions are intercalated within the hollow channels in the interior of the columns, providing a route to a novel channel conducting liquid crystal.