Af our-step synthesis of substituted 5,11-dicyano-6,12-diaryltetracenes was developed, starting from readily available para-substituted benzophenones. The keys tep of this straightforwardr oute is the complex cascade reaction between tetraaryl[3]cumulenes and tetracyanoethene (TCNE) resulting in 5,5,11,11-tetracyano-5,11-dihydrotetracenes. The mechanism of this transformation was reinvestigated by means of theoretical calculations. The target tetracenes were obtained by an ewly developed decyanation/aromatization reactionc atalyzed by Cu I or Cu II complexes in solution,c onditions compatible with ab road range of functionalg roups. Ac omputational mechanistic study sheds light on this transformation.S tructures of all tetracene derivatives were confirmed by X-ray crystallography. The presented dicyanotetracene derivatives exhibit outstanding optoelectronic properties and enhanced photostability,s ignificantly surpassing the reference rubrene (5,6,11,12-tetraphenyltetracene).