Orthogonal Molecular Recognition of Chaotropic and Hydrophobic Guests Enables Supramolecular Architectures

Abstract

Abstract The hydrophobic and chaotropic effects can be used as orthogonal assembly motifs in water. Cucurbit[7]uril, a water‐soluble macrocyclic host, and a ditopic guest molecule, carrying an organic‐hydrophobic (adamantane) and an inorganic‐chaotropic (dodecahydro‐ closo ‐dodecaborate dianion) binding site, have been used to construct hybrid supramolecular architectures. The hydrophobic effect drives the adamantane moiety into the host cavity, while the chaotropic effect allows the association of the dodecaborate cluster onto the host exterior surface. This new strategy facilitates potential applications in surface modification, separation, and purification.