Acenes are a unique class of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon that delocalize a single Clar aromatic sextet over an ever increasing number of rings. This feature leads to a remarkable evolution of electronic properties, and a rapid decrease in stability, for each linearly-fused ring added to the system.In this talk, I will present acenes from anthracene to nonacene (and their heteroaromatic counterparts), and describe how changes in acene length influence their optical and electronic properties. Special focus will be given to the functionalization and stabilization of these otherwise reactive materials, and the tuning of substituents to optimize electronic performance in a variety of device applications.

A walk along the acenes: How properties evolve as conjugation length increases

247th National Meeting (2014)

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