Heptacene and Beyond: The Longest Characterized Acenes

The bigger, the better: In the last decade, the development of organic electronics, and particularly of organic field-effect transistors, carbon nanotubes, and graphene, has spurred efforts to prepare larger acenes. Stable, large acenes have been obtained and fully characterized. Developments in the synthesis of heptacenes, as well as the very recent synthesis of octacene and nonacenes, are highlighted.