Self-assembly of triptycene-based cylindrical macrotricyclic host with dibenzylammonium ions: construction of dendritic [3]pseudorotaxanes.

[reaction: see text] It was found that a cylindrical macrotricyclic host containing two dibenzo[24]crown-8 cavities could self-assemble with two dibenzylammonium salts to form a stable 1:2 complex in solution and in the solid state, in which multiple hydrogen-bonding and pi-pi stacking interactions between the host and the guest played an important role. Furthermore, a series of dendritic pseudorotaxanes were constructed and structurally studied.