Synthesis and Bowl-in-Bowl Assembly of a Geodesic Phenylene Bowl.

A phenylene multiring with a corannulenoidal skeleton was synthesized. Geodesic constraints over 20 phenylene panels resulted in its nanometer-sized, bowl-shaped molecular structure, which was unequivocally revealed by crystallographic analysis. The crystal structure also showed the presence of a bowl-in-bowl dimeric assembly, which was driven by entropic factors in solution.