Truxene is a
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. The molecule can be thought of as being made up of three
fluorene units arranged symmetrically and sharing a common central
benzene. Truxene is solid, and it is slightly soluble in water.
History
Truxene has been known since the end of the 19th century. J. Hausmann came across it in 1889 while investigating the reactions of
3-phenylpropionic acid with
phosphorus pentoxide. He could not determine the exact structure but assumed it was a cyclic
trimer of
1-indanone. According to him, it was formed by the condensation of 1-indanone resulting from intramolecular
acylation of 3-phenylpropanoic acid.[2]
Frederic Stanley Kipping was able to confirm the structure of truxene in 1894 and obtained the compound by the trimerization of 1-indanone.[3]
^Cao, Xiao-Yu; Zhang, Wen-Bin; Wang, Jin-Liang; Zhou, Xing-Hua; Lu, Hua; Pei, Jian (1 October 2003). "Extended π-Conjugated Dendrimers Based on Truxene". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 125 (41): 12430–12431.
doi:
10.1021/ja037723d.
PMID14531685.
^Destrade, C.; Gasparoux, H.; Babeau, A.; Tinh, Nguyen Huu; Malthete, J. (May 1981). "Truxene Derivatives: A New Family of Disc-Like Liquid Crystals With an Inverted Nematic-Columnar Sequence". Molecular Crystals and Liquid Crystals. 67 (1): 37–47.
doi:
10.1080/00268948108070873.
^Dehmlow, Eckehard V.; Kelle, Torsten (June 1997). "Synthesis of New Truxene Derivatives: Possible Precursors of Fullerene Partial Structures?". Synthetic Communications. 27 (11): 2021–2031.
doi:
10.1080/00397919708006804.