Abstract A series of high polarization Ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) dopants based on the 2,3-difluorohexyloxyphenylpyrimidine family was modified by 1) fluorination of the core and 2) replacement of the alkyl achiral tail with an alkoxy tail. Their polarization, rise time, N* and C* helical pitch, and effect on smectic A/C* phase transition as a 10% mixture in an achiral phenylpyrimidine host were determined. In all cases, core fluorination and alkoxy substitution results in a decrease in polarization while rise time remained relatively constant. All modifications resulted in a lengthening of the C* pitch relative to the parent structure. In several cases core fluorination resulted in sign reversal of the N* pitch making use of these dopants potentially useful as pitch compensating agents an attractive possibility.