Double [4 + 2] cycloaddition reaction to approach a large acene with even-number linearly fused benzene rings: 6,9,16,19-tetraphenyl-1.20,4.5,10.11,14.15-tetrabenzooctatwistacene.

It is more challenging to synthesize acenes with even-number fused benzene rings (AWEB) than acenes with odd-number fused benzene rings (AWOB) because AWEB are either synthetically asymmetric or the precursors to prepare AWEB are very difficult to obtain or to prepare from commercially available sources. In this work, we employed 2,6-naphthodiyne precursor (2) as an effective synthon to prepare a large AWEB, 6,9,16,19-tetraphenyl-1.20,4.5,10.11,14.15-tetrabenzooctatwistacene (1), through a simple, one-step, double [4 + 2] cycloaddition reaction. The physical properties of as-prepared octatwistacene (1) have been carefully studied, and the OLED performance of compound 1 was also investigated.