Resorcinarene appended benzothiazole based light-emitting macrocyclic compounds with nematic liquid crystalline phase and bio-imaging applications

•Newly macrocyclic materials based on resorcinarene have been synthesized.•All four resorcinarene-based benzothiazole derivatives shows LC properties.•All macrocyclic compounds exhibited enantiotropic nematic phase.•The selected light-emitting compound is further tested for the cancer cell imaging.