Tetracene Derivatives as Potential Red Emitters for Organic LEDs

As part of our program investigating the use of ethynylated acenes in organic electronics, we have prepared a series of functionalized tetracene
derivatives in search of a material with red emission suitable for use in display technologies. A number of such compounds with functionalization
on the alkyne and/or the acene ring were easily prepared in one or two steps from commercially available materials. Solution fluorescence
quantum efficiencies were generally good for these derivatives, which possessed emission maxima spanning the range 540−637 nm. Simple
light-emitting diodes fabricated from these compounds showed that one of the derivatives did exhibit red electroluminescence.