Towards molecular ribbons of corannulene

Herein, we explore the synthesis of corannulene-based ribbon-shaped molecules through a repetitive Diels-Alder strategy. For this, appropriate corannulene-based dienes and dienophiles were identified and synthesized. These building blocks could be combined in a modular way to obtain the dimeric and trimeric segments of the hypothetical molecular ribbons. 1D and 2DNMR measurements, along with crystal-structure analyses, allowed the structures and geometries of the synthesized compounds to be determined. Ribbons round the old oak tree: Dimeric and trimeric corannulene-based molecular ribbons can be prepared using Diels-Alder reactions between furan- and oxanorbornadiene-fused corannulene fragments (see graphic). The ribbons retain the bowl shape of the starting corannulenes.