Tunable capsule space: self-assembly of hemispherical cavitands with hydrogen-bonding linkers

Fine and/or drastic tuning of capsule space has been attained by alteration of the hydrogen-bonding linker and/or hemispherical cavitand, respectively. Two molecules of tetracarboxyl-cavitand 1 or tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)-cavitand 2 as a hemisphere and four molecules of 2-aminopyrimidine (2-AP) or tetrahydro-2-pyrimidinone (THP) as an equatorial hydrogen-bonding linker self-assemble into a capsule [(1)2.(2-AP)4] (3), [(1)2.(THP)4] (4), [(2)2.(2-AP)4] (5), or [(2)2.(THP)4] (6), respectively, via 16 hydrogen bonds. These capsules provide isolated nanospace and can encapsulate one guest molecule (7-13) in solution. Each capsule has a different cavity size and shows particular guest selectivity on the competitive encapsulation experiments.