Naphthalene compound, and liquid crystal composition and liquid crystal element using the same

Provided is a naphthalene compound represented by the following Formula (1): wherein R1 and R2 each represent a linear or branched alkyl group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, an alkoxyalkyl group having 2 to 20 carbon atoms or an alkenyl group having 2 to 20 carbon atoms which may be substituted with halogen atoms and have no asymmetric carbon atoms; provided that at least one of R1 and R2 is an alkoxyalkyl group represented by Formula (III): -CdH2dO(CeH2eO)fCgH2g+1 (III)(wherein d represents a natural number of 1 to 10; e represents a natural number of 1 to 10; f represents a natural number of 0 to 5; and g represents a natural number of 1 to 12, provided that d + e x f + g ≤ 20); A represents any of the groups represented by the following formulas: (wherein X1, X2, X3 and X4 each represent a hydrogen atom or a halogen atom); and z represents 0 or 1. The addition of this naphthalene compound to a liquid crystal composition makes it possible to improve various characteristics such as the high speed response property of the liquid crystal composition and the temperature dependency of the response time. The above naphthalene compound is useful as a liquid crystal material for liquid crystal compositions, particularly ferroelectric liquid crystal compositions.