Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 4, 2026

Preparation of a Corannulene-functionalized Hexahelicene by Copper(I)-catalyzed Alkyne-azide Cycloaddition of Nonplanar Polyaromatic Units
Published on: September 18, 2016
Tetrabutoxy-substituted quintulene: A missing bowl-shaped cycloarene
Mingxin He1,2, Yuguang Sui1,2, Jiawei Shao1,2
1Department of Chemistry, State Key Laboratory of Quantum Functional Materials, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
Abstract:
The synthesis of corannulene and sumanene has pioneered the burgeoning field of buckybowl chemistry. Quintulene, a long-missing member of cycloarenes family, represents a distinctive type of bowl-shaped aromatics with curvature arising from edge topology and central cavity. Nevertheless, its synthesis has remained elusive for more than 40 years, primarily due to the high geometric strain. Herein we report the synthesis of tetrabutoxy-subtituted quintulene 1 through a rationally designed fold-in strategy. Single crystal analysis confirms the bowl-shaped geometry with a bowl-to-bowl inversion barrier of 19.1 kcal/mol. Quintulene 1 adopts a Clar-type localized aromatic character, consistent with other cycloarenes, but prone to hydrogenation and over-oxidation. Remarkably, the substantially structural strain attenuates local aromaticity in the benzenoid segments of quintulene 1, enabling an almost quantitative fivefold Diels-Alder reaction. This work not only fills a critical gap in cycloarene chemistry but also underscores how geometric strain and electronic structure can reshape reactivity in curved π-systems.
Related Concept Videos
Aromatic Hydrocarbon Cations: Structural Overview
Removing one hydrogen from the intervening CH2 group with both...
Criteria for Aromaticity and the Hückel 4n + 2 Rule
For the first time, Eric Hückel, a German chemical physicist, derived a set of structural features for a compound to be classified as aromatic. This is now known as Hückel’s rule or the 4n + 2 rule.
Chair Conformation of Cyclohexane
The hydrogen atoms linked to carbons are arranged in two different axial and equatorial orientations to achieve this staggered...
Conformations of Cyclohexane
The chair form is the most stable and derives its name from its resemblance to the “easy chair.” In the chair conformation, two carbon atoms are arranged out-of-plane — one above and one below, minimizing the torsional strain. In the chair form, the bond angle is very close to the ideal tetrahedral value,...
Disubstituted Cyclohexanes: cis-trans Isomerism
In cyclohexane, the substituents can occupy different positions generating distinct isomers.
Frost Circles for Different Conjugated Systems

