ST. LOUIS, Oct. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sigma-Aldrich (Nasdaq: SIAL) announced today it has teamed with 3M to distribute TIPS Pentacene, a high-performance soluble organic semiconductor for printed and flexible electronics. Sigma-Aldrich will exclusively distribute research quantities of TIPS Pentacene globally through the Materials Science initiative of its Aldrich® business. 3M will continue to focus on development of the soluble organic semiconductor technology and to work directly with customers to deliver commercial quantities of TIPS Pentacene.

Printed electronics is an emerging industry that takes advantage of energy efficient printing technology to manufacture electronic devices for applications including organic solar cells, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and flexible displays. These applications require organic semiconductor materials that can be deposited using conventional low-cost solution processing techniques such as spin or spray coating and ink-jet printing. TIPS Pentacene, manufactured by 3M under the name 3M(TM) Organic Electronics Semiconductor L-20856, is the first in a family of soluble Pentacene-based semiconductors developed by 3M Electronics Markets Materials Division in collaboration with Dr. John Anthony, professor at the University of Kentucky and founder of Outrider Technologies LLC.

"To help our customers with their quest in printed electronics innovation, Aldrich developed an extensive line of organic electronics products that includes materials critical to support ongoing device improvement efforts," said Dr. Ilya Koltover, business development manager for Aldrich Chemistry and Materials Science. "We are committed to serving researchers around the globe by enhancing our organic electronics product line with new and revolutionary device-grade materials, such as TIPS Pentacene. We are pleased to team with 3M and intend to extend this collaboration further as new materials are developed and become available."

"3M is very pleased to offer our TIPS Pentacene for research usage through Sigma-Aldrich," said Larry Ennett, business manager for 3M Electronics Markets Materials Division. "This agreement will provide increased global access to this soluble semiconductor and help the developing organic electronics market grow."

TIPS Pentacene, known chemically as 6,13-Bis(Triisopropylsilylethynyl) pentacene, is soluble in solvents compatible with the electronics manufacturing environment and has been used to make organic field effect transistors (OFETs) with highest reported switching speeds and field-effect mobilities in its class. These properties make TIPS Pentacene the most intensely studied small molecule soluble organic semiconductor and a prime candidate for emerging OFET applications such as backplane circuitry for utility-grade displays.

To learn more about TIPS Pentacene and other new organic electronics materials available from Sigma-Aldrich, visit http://www.sigma-aldrich.com/oel or read the latest issue of the Aldrich Material Matters(TM) "Organic and Molecular Electronics" available at http://www.sigma-aldrich.com/materialmatters. For more information about 3M Electronics Markets Materials Division, visit www.3M.com/electronics.

About Sigma-Aldrich: Sigma-Aldrich is a leading Life Science and High Technology company. Its biochemical and organic chemical products and kits are used in scientific research, including genomic and proteomic research, biotechnology, pharmaceutical development and as key components in pharmaceutical, diagnostic and other high technology manufacturing. Sigma-Aldrich has customers in life science companies, university and government institutions, hospitals, and in industry. Over one million scientists and technologists use its products. Sigma-Aldrich operates in 38 countries and has 7,800 employees providing excellent service worldwide. Sigma-Aldrich is committed to Accelerating Customer Success through Innovation and Leadership in Life Science, High Technology and Service. For more information about Sigma-Aldrich, please visit its award-winning website at http://www.sigma-aldrich.com.

Cautionary Statement: This press release contains forward-looking statements which can be identified by the use of forwardlooking terminology such as "intend", "committed", "exclusive" or similar expressions, or by discussions of strategy, plans or intentions that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. There can be no assurance that the market for TIPS Pentacene will develop as the Company expects or that further products will be added to the collaboration between 3M and the Company. A further discussion of the Company's risk factors can be found in Item 1A of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

Sigma-Aldrich and Aldrich are registered trademarks of Sigma-Aldrich Biotechnology LP and Sigma-Aldrich Co. 3M is a trademark of 3M Corp.

SOURCE Sigma-Aldrich