Single-wing extended tribenzotriquinacenes via bowl-shaped dehydrobenzene and isobenzofuran tribenzotriquinacene derivatives.

Monoaryne and monoisobenzofuran analogues of a C(3v)-symmetrical tribenzotriquinacene (TBTQ) were generated in situ and trapped with various dienes and dienophiles, respectively. In this way, a series of single-wing extended TBTQ derivatives bearing the bowl-shaped TBTQ unit in different topographical expositions have become accessible. This includes some novel tribenzotriquinacene "dimers", in which two TBTQ bowls are attached in syn- or anti-orientation at the terminal positions of rigid linker units. Several of these compounds have been characterized by both spectroscopy and X-ray structural analysis. The efficient access to the TBTQ "dimers" may lay a useful foundation for further studies of novel container compounds and supramolecular architectures.