We report herein the synthesis and properties of it-stacked dimeric and polymeric compounds that consisted of hexabenzocoronene (HBC) and xanthene as the stacked pi-electron system and the scaffold, respectively; the compounds were obtained by Sonogashira-Hagihara coupling. The obtained polymer was separated into three fractions, and the through-space conjugation effect was estimated. HBC units were layered in proximity (approximately 3.4 angstrom), leading to pi-pi stacking in the ground and excited states. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.