Abstract: There is disclosed a cyanoalkane and cyanoalkene of general formula (I) which shows liquid crystalline properties: wherein R and R.sup.1 are independently C.sub.1-12 alkyl, alkoxy, perfluoroalkyl or perfluoroalkoxy; rings A, B, C and D are independently phenyl, which may carry one or two halogen substituents, trans-cyclohexyl, or (2, 2, 2) bicyclooctyl, each of a, b, c or d being independently 0 or 1 provided (a+b+c+d) is 2 or 3; links A and C are independently a single bond, CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2, COO, OOC, CH.sub.2 O or OCH.sub.2 ; n, m and p are independently 0 or an integer 1 to 4 provided (n+m+p) is not 0; W and Z are independently selected --CH.dbd.C(CN)-- and --C(CN).dbd.CH--; X and Y are independently selected from --CHCN-- and --C(CN).sub.2 --; w, x, y and z are 0 or 1, provided that w and z are 0 if x and/or y are 1, and further provided that at least one of w, x, y and z is 1.