Outer Surface Interactions of Cucurbit[6]uril That Trigger the Assembly of Supramolecular Three-Dimensional Polycatenanes

Xiaowei Cui; Wenxuan Zhao; Kai Chen; Xin-Long Ni; Yuan-Qian Zhang; Zhu Tao

doi:10.1002/chem.201605045

Outer Surface Interactions of Cucurbit[6]uril That Trigger the Assembly of Supramolecular Three-Dimensional Polycatenanes

Chemistry. 2017 Feb 24;23(12):2759-2763. doi: 10.1002/chem.201605045. Epub 2017 Jan 6.

Authors

Xiaowei Cui¹, Wenxuan Zhao¹, Kai Chen², Xin-Long Ni¹, Yuan-Qian Zhang¹, Zhu Tao¹

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Macrocyclic and Supramolecular Chemistry of Guizhou Province, Guizhou University, Guiyang, 550025, China.
² Department Jiangsu Collaborative Innovation Center of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology, Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment Monitoring and Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing, 210044, China.

PMID: 27935127
DOI: 10.1002/chem.201605045

Abstract

A supramolecular polycatenane stabilized by outer surface interactions between cucurbit[6]uril (Q[6] or CB[6]) cations and [CdCl₄ ]^2- is reported. The arrangement of the poly-interlocked supramolecular framework is evidently constructed by a favorable combination of weak non-covalent interactions such as hydrophobic effects, hydrogen bonding, ion-dipole interactions, and C-H⋅⋅⋅Cl interactions in the solid state. Further study suggests that such 3D poly-interlocked species could be rapidly precipitated from the mixture solution in high yield owing to electrostatic interaction of the [CdCl₄ ]^2- anion with the electropositive outer surface of Q[6] host. This work thus demonstrates a simple, low-cost, and efficient non-covalent approach for the construction of a infinite 3D interlocked structure in water besides through coordination or covalent bonds.

Keywords: 3D polycatenanes; cucurbit[6]urils; interlocked structures; non-covalent interactions; triply linked cages.