Abstract
Binary mixtures in which one component is nCBB or its chiral analogue, and the second component is nCB, nOCB, n.CN, or one of their chiral analogues are studied by thermomicroscopy. The branched compounds induce the smectic Ad phase more strongly than unbranched compounds with the same alkyl chain length. The observed behaviour is discussed from the point of view of dimer formation. In all chiral systems, the TGBA phase appears.