(
E,
E)-3,6-Bis(styryl)pyridazines (
3a–
t) bearing 2, 4 or 6 alkoxy chains were prepared by applying the Siegrist reaction of 3,6-dimethylpyridazine (
13) and the corresponding
azomethines 10a–
t. The transversal dipole moment of these calamitic compounds effects an extremely high tendency for self-organization in thermotropic LC phases (N, S
A, S
B, S
C, S
E, S
I/F, and Cub). The conjugated core structure represents moreover a chromophore with a high photosensitivity for (
E,
E)
![right arrow over left arrow right arrow over left arrow](http://www.sciencedirect.com/scidirimg/entities/21c4.gif)
(
E,
Z) isomerization reactions: this property makes the compounds interesting for optical imaging and switching techniques.