A Polyaromatic Molecular Clip That Enables the Binding of Planar, Tubular, and Dendritic Compounds

By the covalent linkage of two bent bisanthracene amphiphiles with a biphenyl spacer bearing hydrophilic pendants, we synthesized a new molecular clip with a C‐shaped conformation. The molecular clip provides an acyclic, open cavity surrounded by four anthracene panels in water. In contrast to previous clip‐ and tweezers‐like compounds as well as cage‐shaped compounds, the C‐shaped polyaromatic cavity displays unusual wide‐ranging capturing abilities toward not only planar perylene‐based pigments and cylindrical single‐walled carbon nanotubes but also highly branched macromolecules (carbazole dendrimers).