Pyrene-fused pyrazaacenes: from small molecules to nanoribbons

Linear and ribbon-like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as acenes and graphene nanoribbons are at the forefront of current investigations, as these graphene "cut outs" possess discrete energy gaps that can be tailored with the number of rings and their arrangements. Pyrene-fused pyrazaacenes are a type of nitrogenated ribbon-like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons with a very high stability. As a matter of fact, ribbon-like pyrene-fused pyrazaacenes with as many as 85 linearly fused aromatic rings have been synthesised with thermal stabilities over 500 °C in air. This review covers most of the synthetic and application aspects of pyrene-fused pyrazaacenes from 1937 to our days, illustrating that pyrene-fused pyrazaacenes are a widely tuneable and a highly stable platform for developing ribbon-like nitrogenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons for a broad spectrum of applications.