Porous molecular nanocontainers of {Mo132 }-type Keplerates offer unique opportunities to study a wide variety of relevant phenomena. An impressive example is provided by the highly reactive {Mo132 -CO3 } capsule, the reaction of which with valeric acid results in the very easy release of carbon dioxide and the uptake of 24 valerate ions/ligands that are integrated as a densely packed aggregate, thus indicating the unique possibility of hydrophobic clustering inside the cavity. Two-dimensional NMR techniques were used to demonstrate the presence of the 24 valerates and the stability of the capsule up to ca. 100 °C. Increasing the number of hydrophobic parts enhances the stability of the whole system. This situation also occurs in biological systems, such as globular proteins or protein pockets.
Keywords: NMR spectroscopy; confinement effects; dense packing; hydrophobic interactions; porous capsules.
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