A compact, trinuclear, circular helicate with oxine-based N,O-chelating binding domains

The preparation of a silver triflate complex (5) of 1,3-bis(8-quinolyloxymethyl)benzene (4) is described. An X-ray crystal structure determination reveals that it is a compact circular helicate in which three silver atoms are bridged by three ligands in a cyclic array, with additional stabilisation via intramolecular π–π stacking interactions.