The work presented in this thesis is primarily concerned with the synthesis and characterization of large, linear heteroacenes and their derivatives. We have been able to significantly expand on the types of materials available for application in organic electronic device architectures. In particular, the work focused on solution processible and novel derivatives of thiadiazoles, diazatetracenes, diazapentacenes, tetrazapentacences, and N,N-dihydrotetraazaheptacene. Extensive computational studies have been performed in order to better understand the optoelectronic properties of these materials. Although no devices have been fabricated that show appreciable hole or electron mobility, the properties of these materials are very promising. Besides our work on organic electronic materials for application in optoelectronic devices, we have also been able to develop, via the Click reaction, a series of aqueous metal sensors for copper (II), nickel (II), and silver (I) based upon fluorescence quenching. The use of a modified Stern-Volmer equation was necessary to fit the data in order to obtain binding constants. The exploration of new materials and their properties in the area of organic electronics is an exciting field for the synthetic organic chemist, as the goals associated with this work strive to impact humanity in a positive manner by reducing energy costs.