The molecule can be thought of as being made up of three fluorene units arranged symmetrically and sharing a common central benzene.

J. Hausmann came across it in 1889 while investigating the reactions of 3-phenylpropionic acid with phosphorus pentoxide.

[2] Frederic Stanley Kipping was able to confirm the structure of truxene in 1894 and obtained the compound by the trimerization of 1-indanone.

[4] Truxene has a star shape, and it is therefore suitable as a starting point for the synthesis of dendrimers.

[5] Derivatives of truxene have also been used for the synthesis of liquid crystals[6] and fragments of fullerene.