Macrocycles as a tool: a facile and one-pot synthesis of silver nanoparticles using cucurbituril designed for cancer therapeutics

Abstract

Silver nanoparticles made easy: A simple, effective, and one-pot method toward the synthesis of a defined macrocycle-silver nanoparticle system in water has been described (see figure). Interestingly, cucurbituril (CB)[7]-protected AgNPs showed significantly increased cytotoxicity against MCF-7 and NCI-H358 cancer cells, as demonstrated by models in vitro.