A large number of chemical compounds are known to exhibit one or several liquid crystalline phases. Despite significant differences in chemical composition, these molecules have some common features in chemical and physical properties. There are three types of thermotropic liquid crystals: discotic, conic (bowlic), and rod-shaped molecules. Discotics are disc-like molecules consisting of a flat core of adjacent aromatic rings, whereas the core in a conic LC is not flat, but is shaped like a rice bowl (a three-dimensional object). This allows for two dimensional columnar ordering, for both discotic and conic LCs. Rod-shaped molecules have an elongated, anisotropic geometry which allows for preferential alignment along one spatial direction.
*The molecular shape should be relatively thin, flat or conic, especially within rigid molecular frameworks. 
*The molecular length should be at least 1.3 nm, consistent with the presence of long alkyl group on many room-temperature liquid crystals.
*The structure should not be branched or angular, except for the conic LC. 
*A low melting point is preferable in order to avoid metastable, monotropic liquid crystalline phases. Low-temperature mesomorphic behavior in general is technologically more useful, and alkyl terminal groups promote this.
An extended, structurally rigid, highly anisotropic shape seems to be the main criterion for liquid crystalline behavior, and as a result many liquid crystalline materials are based on benzene rings.