This paper describes the synthesis and properties of liquid crystals incorporating a chromen-2-one skeleton at the terminal position, and a 2H-pyran-2-one for the comparative study. The 4-alkoxybenzoate and 4-alkoxybiphenyl-4'-carboxylate esters tend to exhibit smectic A phase, probably due to polar interactions between lactone groups. Based on these results, the molecular arrangement in smectic A phase will be discussed.
