Synthesis of tetrachloro-azapentacene as an ambipolar organic semiconductor with high and balanced carrier mobilities.

Two new azapentacene derivatives 9,10-dibromo-6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl)-1-azapentacene (a) and 8,9,10,11-tetrachloro-6,13-bis(triisopropylsilylethynyl)-1-azapentacene (b) were synthesized, and their FET properties were investigated. Compound b exhibits high and balanced ambipolar transport properties, with the hole and electron mobilities reaching up to 0.12 and 0.14 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1), respectively. This work suggests that chlorination to the N-heteropentacene framework is an efficient way for producing high performance ambipolar organic semiconductors.