The synthesis and specific properties of a new family of chiral dopants for ferroelectric liquid crystals, which are derived from a series of trifluorinated dihydrofuranones and tetrahydrofurans, are described. On the basis of the structural features of designed materials and the MOPAC-PM 3 calculations, a discussion of the response time-structure relationships is given. Optically active trifluoromethylated materials with a tetrahydrofuran tail unit were found to be superior chiral dopants for preparing ferroelectric liquid crystalline compositions.