Heteroacenes as potential materials for molecular electronics

In this thesis, different strategies for obtaining azaacenes suitable for solution-based processing techniques have been investigated and developed. The first synthetic approach involved the condensation of commercially available compounds which include the diamines 2,3-diaminobenzene, 2,3-diaminonaphtalene and 2,3-diaminophenazine and the bromoanilic acid and embelin. This synthetic route yielded a series of dihydroazaacenes with 5 and 7 fused aromatic rings. The low overall solubility of this azaacenes did not permit an extensive characterization of the compounds. A second synthetic approach was developed to investigate both C-N exchange and lateral expansion of the ?-conjugation. Through this approach a tetraazaoctacene derivative was obtained and characterized. However it lacked of solubility necessary for being compatible with solution-processing techniques. A third strategy was based on the introduction of solubilizing groups on such extended tetraazaoctacene core. While the di-substitution did not render the azaoctacene soluble in neutral media, tetra-substitution yielded a derivative with enhanced solubility in neutral solvent.