A π-Electron Rich Cage via the Friedel-Crafts Reaction

A prism-shaped cage was obtained via the Friedel-Crafts reaction in a 2:3 mixture of trisfuryl and bis-isopropenyl precursors, in a remarkable yield of 40% considering six C-C bonds formed in a one-pot manner. The cage contains two π-electron rich trisfuryl platforms bridged in a face-to-face manner with three p-xylylene linkers. Therefore, it enables accommodation of π-electron poor guests with complementary size, including biscationic viologen.