Well-defined carbazole derivatives have been studied at length for their interesting physical properties, including good charge transport, electroluminescence, improved thermal and morphological stabilities. Recent developments in the synthesis of the derivatives and their applications as advanced amorphous materials for photorefractive systems, organic light emitting diodes as well as for other optoelectronic devices are summarized. The article is written from an organic chemist's point of view and is divided in two parts: V-shaped 3 (2),9-substituted carbazoles and star-shaped 3,6(2,7),9-substituted carbazoles. (C) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.