Three chiral compounds (R)-octan-2-ol, (S)-citronellol and (S)-citronellyl bromide were used for the synthesis of novel ester imides with biphenyl moieties as mesogenic units. Observations by means of polarising microscopy as well as DSC measurements revealed the presence of SmC* and/or SmA phases for all the compounds examined. It was found that the biphenyl units with long chiral alkoxy substituents induce smectic C phases.