Dehydro side coupling of substituted pentacene derivatives.

1,2,3,4,8,9,10,11-Octaalkylpentacenes were synthesized in high yields from tetrahydropentacenes by the pentacene-DDQ adduct method in the presence of amine. Dehydro side-coupling reactions of pentacene derivatives proceeded to give the corresponding 6,6'-dipentacenyl derivatives in high yields in the presence of a catalytic amount of CSA and 0.5 equiv of DDQ. The structures of dehydro side-coupling products of substituted pentacenes were determined by NMR and X-ray analysis. The combination of acid and DDQ was necessary for the dehydro side coupling of substituted pentacenes.