Abstract A series of liquid crystalline materials comprising substituted phenyl 4-benzoylioxybenzoates were prepared. These compounds may be viewed as derivatives of the unsymmetrical molecule, p-hydroxybenzoic acid. The mesomorphic properties of these new compounds were compared with the more symmetrical analogs derived from hydroquinone or terephthalic acid which have been reported in the literature. The crystal-to-mesophase transition temperatures for the unsymmetrical materials were significantly lower than those of the corresponding symmetrical materials were significantly lower than those of the corresponding symmetrical derivatives, wheras the mesophase-to-isotropic transition temperature varied only slightly for R=R'. The stability of the mesophse (N I transition) for the unsymmetrical materials fell between those of the corresponding hydroquinone and terephthalic acid derivatives, as anticipated from electronic considerations. The resluting decrease in the crystal-to-mesophase transition temperat...