skip to main content


Title: Blurring the Lines between Host and Guest: A Chimeric Receptor Derived from Cucurbituril and Triptycene
Abstract

We report the synthesis and X‐ray crystal structure of a cucurbituril–triptycene chimeric receptor (1). Host1binds to guests typical of CB[6]–CB[8], but also binds to larger guests such as blue box (20) and the Fujita square (22). Intriguingly, the geometries of the120and122complexes blur the lines between host and guest in that both components fulfill both roles within each complex. The fluorescence output of1is fully quenched by the formation of complexes with pyridinium‐derived guests.

 
more » « less
PAR ID:
10061789
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  ;  
Publisher / Repository:
Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Angewandte Chemie
Volume:
130
Issue:
27
ISSN:
0044-8249
Page Range / eLocation ID:
p. 8205-8210
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. Abstract

    We report the synthesis and X‐ray crystal structure of a cucurbituril–triptycene chimeric receptor (1). Host1binds to guests typical of CB[6]–CB[8], but also binds to larger guests such as blue box (20) and the Fujita square (22). Intriguingly, the geometries of the120and122complexes blur the lines between host and guest in that both components fulfill both roles within each complex. The fluorescence output of1is fully quenched by the formation of complexes with pyridinium‐derived guests.

     
    more » « less
  2. Abstract

    The use of cucurbit[8]uril as a molecular host has emerged in the chemical literature as a reliable strategy for the creation of dynamic chemical systems, owing to its ability to form homo‐ and heteroternary complexes in aqueous media with appropriate molecular switches as guests. In this manner, CB[8]‐based supramolecular switches can be designed in a predictable and modular fashion, through the selection of appropriate guests able to condition the redox, photochemical, or pH‐triggered behavior of tailored multicomponent systems. Furthermore, CB[8] allows the implementation of dual/triple and linear/orthogonal stimuli‐dependent properties into these molecular devices by a careful selection of the guests. This versatility in their design gives these supramolecular switches great potential for the rational development of new materials, in which their function is not only determined by the custom‐made stimuli‐responsiveness, but also by the transient aggregation/disaggregation of homo‐ or heteromeric building blocks.

     
    more » « less
  3. Abstract

    We report investigations of the use of cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]) macrocycles as an antidote to counteract the in vivo biological effects of phencyclidine. We investigate the binding of CB[8] and its derivative Me4CB[8] toward ten drugs of abuse (39,1214) by a combination of1H NMR spectroscopy and isothermal titration calorimetry in phosphate buffered water. We find that the cavity of CB[8] and Me4CB[8] are able to encapsulate the 1‐amino‐1‐aryl‐cyclohexane ring system of phencyclidine (PCP) and ketamine as well as the morphinan skeleton of morphine and hydromorphone withKdvalues ≤50 nm. In vitro cytotoxicity (MTS metabolic and adenylate kinase cell death assays in HEK293 and HEPG2 cells) and in vivo maximum tolerated dose studies (Swiss Webster mice) which were performed for Me4CB[8] indicated good tolerability. The tightest host⋅guest pair (Me4CB[8]⋅PCP;Kd=2 nm) was advanced to in vivo efficacy studies. The results of open field tests demonstrate that pretreatment of mice with Me4CB[8] prevents subsequent hyperlocomotion induction by PCP and also that treatment of animals previously dosed with PCP with Me4CB[8] significantly reduces the locomotion levels.

     
    more » « less
  4. Abstract

    Cucurbit[n]urils (CB[n]s) are cyclic macrocycles with rich host‐guest chemistry. In many cases, guest binding in CB[n]s results in host structural deformations. Unfortunately, measuring such deformations remains a major challenge, with only a handful of manual estimations reported in the literature. To address this challenge, we have developed the public program ElliptiCB[n], which is available on GitHub, that provides a robust and automated method for measuring the elliptical deformations in CB[n] hosts. We outline the development and validation of this approach, apply ElliptiCB[n] to measure the ellipticity of the 1113 available CB[n] structures from the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD), and directly investigate the structural deformations of CB[5], CB[6], CB[7], CB[8], and CB[10] hosts. We also report the general landscape of accessible CB[n] elliptical deformations and compare ellipticity distributions across CB[n] hosts and host‐guest complexes. We found that in almost all cases guest binding significantly impacts the distribution of host ellipticity distributions and that these distributions are dissimilar across host‐guest complexes of differently sized CB[n]s. We anticipate that this work will provide a useful approach for understanding of the flexibility of CB[n] hosts and will also enable future measurement and standardization of ellipticity measurements of CB[n]s.

     
    more » « less
  5. Absorption of electronic acceptors in the accessible channels of an assembled triphenylamine (TPA) bis -urea macrocycle 1 enabled the study of electron transfer from the walls of the TPA framework to the encapsulated guests. The TPA host is isoskeletal in all host–guest structures analyzed with guests 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole, 2,5-dichlorobenzoquinone and I 2 loading in single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformations. Analysis of the crystal structures highlights how the spatial proximity and orientation of the TPA host and the entrapped guests influence their resulting photophysical properties and allow direct comparison of the different donor–acceptor complexes. Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy shows that upon complex formation 1·2,5-dichlorobenzoquinone exhibits a charge transfer (CT) transition. Whereas, the 1·2,1,3-benzothiadiazole complex undergoes a photoinduced electron transfer (PET) upon irradiation with 365 nm LEDs. The CT absorptions were also identified with the aid of time dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculations. Cyclic voltammetry experiments show that 2,1,3-benzothiadiazole undergoes reversible reduction within the host–guest complex. Moreover, the optical band gaps of the host 1·2,5-dichlorobenzoquinone (1.66 eV), and host 1·2,1,3-benzothiadiazole (2.15 eV) complexes are significantly smaller as compared to the free host 1 material (3.19 eV). Overall, understanding this supramolecular electron transfer strategy should pave the way towards designing lower band gap inclusion complexes. 
    more » « less