Novel lipophilic dendrimers as host compounds, that is, 7-15, containing crown ether moieties with different sizes as the core, surrounded by first, second or third generation poly(aromatic ether) wedges, were synthesized by the use of bis(bromomethyl)-substituted crown ethers and Frechet-type poly(benzyl ether) dendrons as building blocks. The compounds were fully characterized. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.