Perylenediimide regioisomers with tunable physicochemical and charge-transport properties

Two perylenediimide (PDI) regioisomers with the central core substituted at the ortho (Y-alpha PDI) and bay (Y-beta PDI) areas of the PDIs were successfully prepared. The regioisomeric effects on the physicochemical and charge-transport properties were thoroughly investigated. The results unravel that Y-bPDI shows ambipolar transport with higher mobilities compared to its alpha-counterpart, which is due to its favourable molecular geometry, stronger intermolecular interaction and improved electron-withdrawing ability.