A no. of bent-rod mols. of thiophene derivs. were prepd., and their phase behavior was studied. Mostly these compds. have the nematic phase. The crystal structure of 3,4-dicyano-2,5-bis[(methoxyphenyl)ethynyl]thiophene shows that the antiparallel arrangements of lateral dipoles seems most likely. Crystals are monoclinic, space group P21/n, with a 11.5757(2), b 10.03300(10), c 17.3438(4) AA, $beta$ 100.4580(10)°; Z =
