The basic characteristics of anthracene（AN） and dibenz[a,c]anthracene（D[a,c]A） derivatives, important semiconductors, were systematically studied. Differential scanning calorimetry（DSC） shows that D[a,c]A has the reversibility of solid and liquid phases. Thermalgravimetric analysis（TGA） shows that D[a,c]A exhibits higher Td（decomposition temperature）, which indicates D[a,c]A, as active layers, should be more suitable to being made into stable devices. D[a,c]A shows blue-shifted UV-Vis absorption and emission despite increased conjugation compared to anthracene due to different symmetries. Both the compounds are planar and show weak blue fluorescence in the tetrahydrofuran（THF） solution and higher fluorescence in the solid-state, due to different energy levels in solution and solid-state, explained via Jablonski diagram.
