A flat polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), it consists of four fused benzene rings.

Triphenylene has delocalized 18-π-electron systems based on a planar structure, corresponding to the symmetry group D3h.

[3] Another method involves trapping benzyne with a biphenyl derivative.

[4] Triphenylene is more resonance stable than its isomers chrysene, benz[a]anthracene, benzo[c]phenanthrene, and tetracene.

[5] As a disc-shaped, planar molecule, triphenylene has attracted attention as the core of discotic mesogen in liquid crystalline materials.