The synthesis and characterization of a series of six new highly fluorescent 2,7alkynyl(aryl)-3,6-dimethoxy-9,9-diphenylsilafluorenes was investigated utilizing a modified multi-step synthetic pathway in which the final step utilizes palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling conditions to incorporate a variety of conjugatedalkynyl(aryl) groups at the 2,7-positions. These new compounds were characterized utilizing X-ray crystallography as well as multinuclear NMR, EA, TGA, DSC, UV-Vis, and fluorescence spectroscopic techniques. The new silafluorene compounds show a strong absorption band in the visible region with a maximum in the region of 374-388 nm and an emission maximum in the range of 403-420 nm. The solution-state quantum efficiencies for the luminescence are high and range from 0.80-0.89. All of the compounds show high thermal stability as determined by DSC and TGA analysis. Conjugated π-electron systems containing silicon have received substantial attention for their use as components for a wide variety of optical and electronic applications such as organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), photovoltaic devices, field-effect transistors (FETs), and as chemical and biological sensors. 1-18 The unique optoelectronic properties found in these silicon systems arises from the σ*−π* conjugation between the σ* orbital of the two exocyclic groups at the silicon center and π* orbital of the butadiene unit of the ring resulting in a low energy LUMO level. 16,17 Incorporation of conjugated organic moieties on the ring allows for further electronic tuning. 1-22 Silafluorenes represent a relatively new class of photoluminescent molecules which demonstrate smaller band gaps, deep blue emission, high electron affinity, improved thermal stability, and greater quantum yields than that of their fluorene and carbazole analogs. 15,23-30 Silafluorenes are analogs of 9,9-dialkylfluorenes, which have been of interest due to their deep blue emission and their ability to be incorporated into polysilafluorenes. 11,24,26,27,30-37 Commercially available blue emitting polyfluorenes generally have a much shorter lifetime compared to that of red and green emitters. As a result, there has been increased interest in strong blue emitters with high quantum efficiency, lifetime, and color purity. Unfortunately, some polyfluorenes can undergo a decrease in emission and spectral broadening resulting in a low-energy green band over time. 38-40