Fused polycyclic aromatics incorporating boron in the core: fundamentals and applications

The incorporation of boron into the core structure of fused polycyclic aromatics generates compounds with highly attractive properties that have recently received significant attention. Embedding boron into the backbone of ladder or 2D poly aromatic hydrocarbons is an underexplored approach to modulate optoelectronic properties, with tricoordinate boron representing a novel acceptor moiety for organic optoelectronic applications. Furthermore, the incorporation of boron into polycyclics containing other heteroatoms (e.g., chalcogens or pnictogens) leads to more extensive structural diversity and considerable ability to modify the frontier orbital energies and character, often in a controlled manner, to fine tune material properties for specific applications. This feature article summarizes the recent key developments in this field.