A chiral, nonracemic ester with a bent-core molecular architecture (see figure) has been synthesized and evaluated for mesomorphic behavior and physical properties. The compound has a low melting point, a chiral smectic C phase with a wide temperature range, and it shows an unusually high tilt angle at a very low value of spontaneous polarization. However, the most significant aspect of the compound is the helical structure of the smectic A phase.