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Acenes are a class of organic compounds with strong potential for applications in organic electronics and photovoltaics. Their broader use, however, is limited by their relatively low stability, especially under ambient conditions and upon exposure to light.

In our recent work, we developed a new family of pentacene derivatives that combine improved chemical and photochemical stability with attractive optical and electronic properties. By introducing carefully selected donor and acceptor groups into the molecular framework, we obtained strongly polarized systems that absorb and emit light in the near-infrared region and also exhibit reversible redox behavior. In addition, we showed that molecular polarization affects the distribution of aromaticity within the pentacene core, opening new possibilities for fine-tuning the properties of this class of materials. These findings provide useful guidelines for the design of stable functional organic materials for future optoelectronic applications.

K. Nowak, O. Morawski, M. Y. Mehboob, M. Morawiak, K. Noworyta, C. Foroutan-Nejad, M. Grzybowski, “Donor–Acceptor Pentacene Analogues With Near-Infrared Emission and Tunable Aromaticity”, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed.