A combined experimental and computational study of a series of substituted pentacenes including halogenated, phenylated, silylethynylated and thiolated derivatives is presented. Experimental studies include the synthesis and characterization of six new and six known pentacene derivatives and a kinetic study of each derivative under identical photooxidative conditions. Structures, HOMO-LUMO energies and associated gaps were calculated at the B3LYP/6-311+G**//PM3 level while optical and electrochemical HOMO-LUMO gaps were measured experimentally. The combined results provide for the first time a quantitative assessment of HOMO-LUMO gaps and photooxidative resistances for a large series of pentacene derivatives as a function of substituents. The persistence of each pentacene derivative is impacted by a combination of steric resistance and electronic effects as well as the positional location of each substituent. Silylethynyl-substituted pentacenes like TIPS-pentacene possess small HOMO-LUMO gaps but are not the longest lived species under photooxidative conditions, contrary to popular perception. A pentacene derivative with both chlorine substituents in the 2,3,9,10 positions and o-alkylphenyl substituents in the 6,13 positions is longer lived than TIPS-pentacene. Of all the derivatives studied, alkylthio- and arylthio-substituted pentacenes are most resistant to photooxidation, possess relatively small HOMO-LUMO gaps and are highly soluble in a variety of organic solvents. These results have broad implications for the field of organic molecular electronics where OFET, OLED, and other applications can benefit from highly persistent, solution processable pentacene derivatives.

A significant technical barrier (i.e., facile oxidative degradation) that has prevented the preparation of large acenes has now been breached. Using a combination of experimentally and theoretically derived substituent effects, the design, synthesis, isolation, and characterization of the first persistent nonacene derivative is described. The molecular design strategy includes placement of arylthio (or alkylthio) substituents on the terminal rings of the nonacene skeleton, effectively converting an open-shell singlet diradical into a closed-shell system. These powerful substituent effects appear to be suitable for the synthesis of other persistent, soluble, large acene derivatives required for advanced thin-film organic semiconductor applications.

[chemical structure: see text]. Organic polyamines are efficient reagents for the regioselective hydrogenation of [60]fullerene. When [60]fullerene is heated in diethylenetriamine, a known C60H18 isomer with C3v symmetry is produced and isolated in good purity without the need for chromatographic separation. The reaction can be scaled upward to multigram levels without impacting yield or quality of product.

Substituent effects have been exploited to produce an unusually persistent heptacene derivative. In total, four new heptacene derivatives with varying levels of photooxidative resistance (1 < 2 < 3 < 4) have been synthesized. A combination of p-(t-butyl)thiophenyl substituents at positions 7 and 16 (i.e., arylthio substituents attached to the most reactive ring) and o-dimethylphenyl substituents at positions 5, 9, 14, and 18 (i.e., steric resistance on neighboring rings) make heptacene derivative 4 especially resistant to photooxidation. It persists for weeks as a solid, for 1-2 days in solution if shielded from light, and for several hours in solution when directly exposed to both light and air. Heptacene derivative 4 has been fully characterized. It possesses a small HOMO-LUMO gap of 1.37 eV.