Iridium-catalyzed direct tetraborylation of anthracene to give 1,3,5,7-tetrakis(Bpin)anthracene 5 was achieved by using a combination of [Ir(OMe)(COD)](2) and tmphen as the catalyst. Compound 5 was applied to the synthesis of 1,3,5,7-tetraaryl-anthracenes 7 as a new molecular entity. The latter showed long fluorescence lifetime in the solid state.