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  • Review Article
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Advances in supramolecular host-mediated reactivity

Nature Catalysis volume 3, pages 969–984 (2020)Cite this article

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Abstract

Since the trailblazing discoveries of Lehn, Cram and Pedersen, supramolecular chemistry has established itself as a cornerstone of organic chemistry. Supramolecular hosts offer defined microenvironments that mimic the active sites of enzymes, utilizing specific host–guest interactions to enable remarkable rate enhancements and product selectivity. The development of a diverse array of self-assembled hosts, coupled with the increased demand for shorter and greener synthetic routes, have spurred significant progress in the field of supramolecular catalysis. This Review Article covers recent advances in the field, ranging from novel organic reactivity aided by supramolecular hosts to catalytic cooperation between hosts and organometallic compounds or metal nanoparticles. Strides have also been made in the synthetic application of these hosts in site-selective substrate modifications and challenging photochemical reactions. These efforts have enabled the incorporation of non-covalent macromolecular catalysis in natural product syntheses, evidencing their unique advantages as a synthetic tool, and their powerful potential for practical applications.

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Fig. 1: Organic transformations catalysed by supramolecular hosts.
Fig. 2: Organic transformations promoted by supramolecular hosts.
Fig. 3: Organometallic transformations promoted supramolecular hosts.
Fig. 4: Host-mediated metal nanoparticle synthesis and reactivity.
Fig. 5: Regio- and site-selective reactivity rendered by stoichiometric amounts of supramolecular hosts.
Fig. 6: Regio- and site-selective reactivity catalysed by supramolecular hosts.
Fig. 7: Photochemical reactions aided by supramolecular hosts.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the director, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, and the Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Bioscience of the U.S. Department of Energy at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Grant DE-AC02-05CH1123).

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  1. These authors contributed equally: M. Morimoto, S. M. Bierschenk and K. T. Xia.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemical Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Mariko Morimoto, Stephen M. Bierschenk, Kay T. Xia, Robert G. Bergman, Kenneth N. Raymond & F. Dean Toste

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Contributions

M.M., S.M.B., and K.T.X. contributed equally. M.M., S.M.B., K.T.X., R.G.B, K.N.R. and F.D.T. were involved in surveying the literature and structuring and editing the manuscript.

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Correspondence to F. Dean Toste.

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Morimoto, M., Bierschenk, S.M., Xia, K.T. et al. Advances in supramolecular host-mediated reactivity. Nat Catal 3, 969–984 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41929-020-00528-3

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