A Study of the Interaction Between Cucurbit[8]uril and Alkyl-Substituted 4-Pyrrolidinopyridinium Salts

Internal Dynamics and Modular Peripheral Binding in Stimuli-Responsive 3 : 2 Host:Guest Complexes

Now that the chemistry of 1 : 1 host:guest complexes is well-established, it is surprising to note that higher stoichiometry (oligomeric) complexes, especially those with excess host, remain largely unexplored. Yet, proteins tend to oligomerize, affording new functions for cell machinery. Here, we show that cucurbit[n]uril (CB[n]) macrocycles combined with symmetric, linear di-viologens form unusual 3 : 2 host:guest complexes exhibiting remarkable dynamic properties, host self-sorting, and external ring-translocation. These results highlight the structural tunability of cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]) based 3 : 2 host:guest complexes in water and their responsiveness toward several stimuli (chemicals, pH, redox).

A study of the inclusion complex formed between cucurbit[8]uril and isonicotinic acid

The complexation between cucurbit[8]uril, Q[8], and isonicotinic acid has been studied using 1H NMR spectroscopy, UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray diffraction. The results revealed that the 2:1 inclusion complex (4-PA)2@Q[8]·25H2O is formed, with two guests simultaneously encapsulated in the hydrophobic cavity; the mean planes of the guests are 3.535 Å apart.

Graphical abstract

A facile cucurbit[8]uril-based porous assembly: utilization in the adsorption of drugs and their controlled release

Cucurbit[n]urils (Q[n]s) are essential members of the supramolecular organic framework family owing to their distinct structure.

Binding Modes of a Phenylpyridinium Styryl Fluorescent Dye with Cucurbiturils

In order to explore how cucurbituril hosts accommodate an N-phenyl-pyridinium derivative guest, the complexation of the solvatochromic dye, 4-(4-(dimethylamino)styryl)-1-phenylpyridinium iodide (PhSt) with ,',δ,δ'-tetramethyl-cucurbit[6]uril (Me4CB6) and cucurbit[7]uril (CB7) was investigated by absorption spectroscopic, fluorescence and NMR experiments. In aqueous solutions, PhSt forms 1:1 complexes with both cucurbiturils, the complex with CB7 has a higher stability constant (Ka = 6.0 × 106 M-1) than the complex with Me4CB6 (Ka = 1.1 × 106 M-1). As revealed by NMR experiments and confirmed by theoretical calculations, CB7 encapsulates the whole phenylpyridinium entity of the PhSt cation guest, whereas the cavity of Me4CB6 includes only the phenyl ring, the pyridinium ring is bound to the carbonyl rim of the host. The binding of PhSt to cucurbiturils is accompanied by a strong enhancement of the fluorescence quantum yield due to the blocking of the deactivation through a twisted intramolecular charge transfer (TICT) state. The TICT mechanism in PhSt was characterized by fluorescence experiments in polyethylene glycol (PEG) solvents of different viscosities. The PhSt-CB7 system was tested as a fluorescence indicator displacement (FID) assay, and it recognized trimethyl-lysine selectively over other lysine derivatives.

A Study of the Interaction between Cucurbit[7]uril and Alkyl Substituted 4-Pyrrolidinopyridinium Salts

The interaction between cucurbit[7]uril (Q[7]) and a series of 4-pyrrolidinopyridinium salts bearing aliphatic substituents at the pyridinium nitrogen, namely 4-(C4H8N)C5H5NRBr, where R = H (C0), Et (C2), n-butyl (C4), n-hexyl (C6), has been studied in aqueous solution by 1H NMR spectroscopy, electronic absorption spectroscopy, and mass spectrometry.

Selective recognition and determination of phenylalanine by a fluorescent probe based on cucurbit[8]uril and palmatine

This paper demonstrated a simple and validated fluorescence enhancing method to selectively recognize and discriminate the amino acid phenylalanine (Phe). ¹H NMR spectroscopy reveal that the palmatine (PAL) can be encapsulated into the cucurbit [8]uril (Q [8]) in aqueous solution to form stable 1:2 host-guest inclusion complex PAL₂@Q [8], which exhibits moderate intensity fluorescence property. Interestingly, the addition of the Phe into the inclusion complex PAL₂@Q [8] leads to dramatically enhancing of the fluorescence intensity. In contrast, the addition of any other natural amino acids into the inclusion complex PAL₂@Q [8] gives no fluorescence variation. Furthermore, it is easy to detect the concentration of Phe in target aqueous solution according to the linear relationship between fluorescence intensity and concentration of the Phe.

Supramolecular assemblies controlled by cucurbit[n]uril size (n = 6, 7, 8 and 10)

The differing cavity size of the Q[n] determines the binding interactions between the benzyl substituted 4-pyrrolidinopyridinium salt and each Q[n]. Single crystal X-ray diffraction of the guest as well as two host–guest complexes is reported.

A pore-expanded supramolecular organic framework and its enrichment of photosensitizers and catalysts for visible-light-induced hydrogen production

A 3.6 nm-pore SOF is constructed, which adsorbs both photosensitizers and polyoxometallates for visible light-induced proton reduction to produce H₂.

Study of the host–guest interaction between N,N′-bis[4-(dimethylaminophenyl)methyl]butane-1,4-diamine and the cucuribit[n]urils (n = 6, 7)

Interaction of the cucuribit[n]urils (n = 6 or 7) and the guest N,N′-bis[4-(dimethylaminophenyl)methyl]butane-1,4-diamine (G) has been studied in aqueous solution by ¹H NMR and electronic absorption spectroscopy and Isothermal Titration Calorimetry.