Fifty-six novel alkyl and/or alkoxy disubstituted 2-(2, 3-difluorobiphenyl-4′-yl)-1, 3-dioxanes (DFBPD) were prepared. Smectic C and nematic mesophases were exhibited by most of the alkyl-alkoxy homologues. Conversely, most of the dialkyl compounds exhibited smectic C,