Photopatternable pentacene precursor highly solube in apolar organic solvents (halogenated solvents, THF). Converted to pentacene in thin (e.g. spin-cast) films by heating under N2 atmosphere for one hour at 150 °C. Spin-coated thin films of the pentacene precursor can be patterned by exposure to UV light in the presence of a photoacid generator (e.g. 531014), followed by a brief heating (5 min. at 130 °C and washing away of an un-converted precursor. Organic thin film transistors fabricated by solution processing of this precursor showed mobilities of 0.13 cm2V-1s-1 and on/off ratio 2 x 105.