From chemical curiosity to versatile building blocks: unmasking the hidden potential of main-group phthalocyanines in organic field-effect transistors

Abstract

Over the past few decades, metal phthalocyanines (MPcs) have been thoroughly investigated as active materials in organic field effect transistors (OTFTs) towards the commercialisation of flexible integrated circuits and displays. One of several advantages to MPcs as building blocks for OTFTs is the high degree of functionality, from which the choice of metal ion, substituents along the phthalocyanine framework and axially bound ligands can synergistically tune the physical and self-assembly properties of the material. Recent interest has been directed to the introduction of main-group elements as the central ion of MPcs as an avenue to install both hole and electron transport properties and improve device performance. In this review, we focus on the development of main-group phthalocyanines and their performances in OTFTs. General preparation of main-group MPcs are discussed for complexes integrated into OTFTs and further presented with a summary of their device performance.