An Exploration of Higher Acenes

在美国国家科学基金会有机和大分子化学项目的支持下，肯塔基大学化学系的约翰·安东尼教授将研究线性融合碳氢化合物（烯），这是低成本显示器和塑料太阳能电池的基准组件。然而，只有到五聚体（pentacene）的材料才被很好地表征。该项目将显著增强对这些重要分子的理解，通过一种官能化策略来扩展acene系列，延缓常见的分解途径，提高稳定性和溶解度。通过开发稳定的六聚体和七聚体，可以设想用于显示技术和能源生产的新材料。将这些稳定方法应用于更大的体系（八聚体、非聚体），将更好地理解芳香性随着低聚物长度的增加而演变，这将提高化学家设计这类分子电子性质的能力。凭借这一奖项，安东尼教授的研究项目将采用综合方法开发有机电子新材料，包括开发新的合成方法，设计新的功能化策略，以及将设计的分子应用于薄膜电子。这种方法将产生适合几种新兴技术的材料，并培养学生在自组装有机材料的合成和应用方面的能力。

With support from the Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry Program at the National Science Foundation, Professor John Anthony of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Kentucky will work with linearly-fused hydrocarbons (acenes) that are benchmark components of low-cost displays and plastic solar cells. However, materials only up to the pentamer (pentacene) are well-characterized. This project will significantly enhance understanding of these important molecules by expanding the acene series through a functionalization strategy that retards common decomposition pathways, improving stability and solubility. By developing stabilized hexamers and heptamers, new materials for use in display technologies and energy generation are envisioned. Applying these stabilization methods to even larger systems (octamers, nonamers) will develop a better understanding of the evolution of aromaticity with increased oligomer length, which will improve chemists' ability to engineer the electronic properties of this class of molecules.With this award Professor Anthony's research program will adopt a comprehensive approach to the development of new materials for organic electronics, including the development of new synthetic methodologies, the design of novel functionalization strategies, and the application of designed molecules to thin-film electronics. This approach will lead to materials suited for several emerging technologies, and train students in both the synthesis and application of self-assembled organic materials.