Unusual aromatic circuits for organic electronics

ORGN 355

John D. Tovar, tovar@jhu.edu, Department of Chemistry, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, NCB 316, Baltimore, MD 21218
This contribution will describe ongoing research from our group to explore new or otherwise under-utilized aromatic topologies as viable organic electronic materials. As a proof of principle, recent studies will be reported for two ten pi electron aromatic motifs, that of the cyclic polyene methano[10]annulene and of the more classical aromatic, naphthalene. Thiophene-based semiconductors derived from the annulene show much greater propensities to transport charge as deduced from the structural changes that accompany electrochemical oxidation. Using this principle as a guide, the design and synthesis of new organic electronic platforms will be addressed.