Gas phase assembly and X-ray crystal structure of copper(I) 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzoate network with corannulene

Gas-phase co-deposition of [Cu(O2C(3,5-CF3)2C6H3)] (1) with C20H10 at 170 °C affords crystals of the first copper(I)–corannulene adduct [Cu6(O2C(3,5-CF3)2C6H3)6](C20H10)2 (2). The X-ray crystallographic characterization of 2 reveals its main structural building blocks: a planar hexanuclear metal core supported by bridging 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)benzoate groups and two corannulene molecules. The Cu⋯Cu distances within the core of 2.6826(8)–2.7607(8) Å fall within the range of cuprophilic interactions. Several intermolecular Cu⋯C contacts between the cyclic Cu6-unit and corannulene ranging from 2.799(5) to 3.266(5) Å can be identified. The shortest ones lying within the sum of the van der Waals radii for Cu and C (ΣrvdW (Cu, C) = 3.10 Å) are to the rim sites of corannulene. A noticeable flattening of the C20H10-bowl in 2 is also observed.