The molecular engineering of acenes: avoiding the drawbacks of improved solubility [organic electronics materials]

Acenes such as anthracene, tetracene and pentacene are high-performance components of several classes of organic devices. Significant research has been aimed at making these normally insoluble materials into compounds that can be processed by solution methods. We report our approach to acene solubilization by careful consideration of how substituents affect the solid-state order of the materials. This change in native order leads to increases in conductivity, and in collaboration with the Jackson group has shown TFT mobilities >0.5 cm/sup 2//Vs from both vapor and solution. With this initial data in hand, we report our progress on second-generation materials designed to address the shortcomings of our initial compounds.