This invention relates to fluorinated oligophenyls of formula (I), in which a is 0 or 1 and in which the terminal sub-stituents R1, R2 and R3 are each independently an alkyl or alkenyl residue each with up to 15 C atoms, optionally substitut-ed by CN or by at least one halogen atom, and wherein one or more non adjacent CH2 groups of these residues may be replaced by -O-, -S-, -CO-, -O-CO-, -CO-O-, -O-CO-O- or -C≡C-, one of the residues R1 and R2 may also denote a group of formula (II), any one of the following pairs of lateral substituents are both fluorine: (A, B), (C, D), (D, E), (C, E), (B, C), (D, J), (D, K), (A, C), (C, J), (C?, D?), (D?, E), (D?, A), (C?, E), (C?, A), (D?, J?), (D?, K?), (C?, J?), (B, G), (A, G), all of the other lateral substituents being hydrogen or fluorine, and to their use as components of liquid crystalline compositions.