Disclosed are compounds of the general formula:R--O--Ar--COS--Ph--COO--R'characterized by the presence of the thioester (--COS--) core and wherein R is an alkyl group with typically 8 to 16 carbon atoms, Ar is a substituted aromatic core group such as 1,4-benzene, 2,6-naphthalene, 4,4'-biphenyl, or 4,4'-diphenylethane, and R' is a chiral branched alkyl group such as the 1-substituted cases 1-methylpropyl through 1-methyloctyl or 2-substituted case such as 2-methylbutyl. These materials or their mixtures possess ferroelectric phases and as such are of interest for electro-optical applications. In certain cases specific materials are of particular interest due to the existence of stable ferroelectric phases near room temperature with large polarization density and fast electro-optic response.