Azobenzene upon photochemical E/Z isomerization changes both its shape and size. The E-azobenzene moiety falls in the class of calamitic liquid crystalline mesogens, producing a wide variety of mesophases. Two series of linear bis(azobenzene) compounds, one with phenyl benzoate linkage and the other with benzyl benzoate linkage were synthesized. The termini of these molecules ranged from a dodecyloxy chain to hydrophobic amphiphilic dendrons up to first generation. We determined the effects of both the linkages and generation number on the mesogenic properties of these compounds. Our results show that the mesogenic behavior of these bis(azobenzene) compounds are highly dependent on the linkages between individual azobenzenes and that for the bis(azobenzene) compounds of the phenyl benzoate series, generation number had an effect on the liquid crystalline mesophase of the compounds

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This thesis presents a series of studies of quenched random disorder (QRD) on liquid crystals. We have used high-resolution AC-Calorimetry, high-resolution X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), X-Ray Intensity Fluctuation Spectroscopy (XIFS), Turbidity, Integrated Low-Angle Light Scattering (ILALS), as well as Polarizing Microscopy to characterize the effects of a nano-colloidal dispersions of aerosils in the phase transitions of several liquid crystals. The aerosil ($SIL$) is made of 70~AA~ diameter SiO$_{2}$ particles coated with hydroxyl (-OH) groups. The coating allows the $SIL$ particles to hydrogen-bond together, to form a very low density gel in an organic solvent. This provides the quenched random disorder. The liquid crystals of interest are: octyloxycyanobiphenyl ($8OCB$), 4-extit{n}-pentylphenylthiol-4'-extit{n}-octyloxybenzoate (ar{8}$S5), 4'-transbutyl-4-cyano-4-heptyl-bicyclohexane ($CCN47$), and octylcyanobiphenyl ($8CB$). Studies have been carried out as a function of aerosil concentration and temperature spanning the following phase transitions, Isotropic to Nematic (emph{I-N}), nematic to smectic-emph{A} (emph{N-SmA}), smectic-emph{A} to smectic-emph{C} (emph{SmA-SmC}), and crystallization.

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