Innovation is an important determinant for success in a fast changing world. For innovation to take place, scientific knowledge that has a proven working principle needs to find an application. The process in which applications are generated or identified has been identified as an important aspect of the innovation process. However, scientific literature on application generation or identification is underdeveloped. The aim of this thesis was to develop a framework to generate or identify applications for organic molecules in a systematic way. This has been formulated into a research question as “Can a framework be developed to systematically search for applications for organic molecules?”. Before this framework for organic molecules was developed, first a general framework to generate or identify applications for technology was created. Apart from the main research question, three sub research questions are answered in this research: Can a framework to systematically search for applications for technology be developed? How can such a framework be translated to a framework for organic molecules? How can this/these framework(s) be validated? The framework was created using a design approach. The thesis draws on interviews with experts, scientific literature on application generation/identification frameworks and a discussion with experts. In the preliminary literature study, the notion that the literature on the subject of application generation or identification is underdeveloped was confirmed. The available literature provided insufficient base to build this thesis, so a design approach was taken as alternative. The first step in this approach was a series of interviews with experts on innovation and application generation/identification. With the data from these interviews, a first version of the general framework was created. This first version was validated and improved by comparing it to frameworks from literature, by conducting a second series of interviews and by a discussion with experts. The next step envisioned in the research was a translation of the general framework into a framework that can be used to generate or identify applications for organic molecules. A start was made on the translation of the framework by providing methods that can be used in subsequent research to translate the framework. The translation chapter used information from the second series of interviews as a starting point. Following this research, four recommendations were made for future research project. The first recommendation is to further develop the framework created in this research project, for example by exploring creativity methods. Secondly, it is recommended to conduct a full systematic literature review, using the vocabulary learned throughout this thesis. Thirdly, the framework created in this thesis should be translated. Before translation can take place, it has to be researched what the best method for this translation is. The translation methods provided in this thesis could be used. Alternatively, new methods for translation could be devised and implemented. Finally, in future research, several concept used in this research should be defined more carefully. Obtaining more clear and workable definitions for these concept will decrease the ambiguity of future research using these concepts. In conclusion, in this thesis, a framework to systematically generate or identify applications for technology (or rather, a concept in between scientific knowledge and technology) has been developed. Recommendations have been provided on how this framework could be further improved. On top of that, this research proposes methods for translation of this framework into a framework to systematically generate or identify applications for organic molecules. The actual translation has to take place in subsequent research.

Synthesis of new perylene-3,4,9,10-tetra-carboxylic acid (PTCA) derivates is a research topic that has rapidly developed during the last decades. Current synthetic efforts are largely focussed on functionalizing the perylene core, via either bay- or ortho-substitution. The aim of this research project was to synthesize novel perylene mono-imide di-ester derivates by attaching different substituents at the bay-positions. The first synthetic route that was attempted in this research project was a route via a perylene mono-anhydride mono-imide derivate. The anhydride was attached to this molecule to activate the relevant bay-positions. It was found that the anhydride is not stable enough to withstand the reaction conditions that were used in an attempt to substitute the relevant bay positions. The next synthetic route that was attempted in this research project was a route via a perylene di-ester mono-imide derivate. Reactions were performed to explore whether the di-ester was able to activate the relevant bay-positions. It was found that at the used reaction conditions, phenol exchange takes place on the bay-positions of the perylene core. Due to the challenges that arose, the target compounds of this project have not been synthesized. However, three other new PTCA derivates have been synthesized during this project.