Shaping new materials that are tailored to meet the specific electronic, chemical, and physical demands in their applications --- this is the role of the materials chemist. Although the field of organic electronics has witnessed significant advances since its inception, the toolkit of efficacious materials has been entrusted to a few choice molecular platforms. In an effort to expand this limited library of compounds, new materials based on various polycyclic hydrocarbons have been synthesized and characterized. The pigment quinacridone was incorporated into water/alcohol-soluble electron transport layers that were deposited on top of existing organic-soluble active layers in organic light-emitting diodes and organic photovoltaics, thereby enhancing the transport of electrons and hence the device efficiencies. A strained polycyclic hydrocarbon, decacyclene, was functionalized with three imide groups to generate a new class of non-fullerene acceptors for organic photovoltaics. A heteroheptacene, dinaphthocarbazole, was characterized for its hole transporting properties in organic field-effect transistors. Finally, various substituted imidazolium-based ionic liquids were synthesized and characterized for their potential use as organic electrolytes in lithium batteries.