Molecular capsules articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The development of supramolecular porous crystalline frameworks with architectures from secondary building units remains challenging. Here, the authors report ammonium node-assembled clusters as supramolecular secondary building units to sustain a body centered cubic hydrogenbonded framework with octahedral cages for haloform encapsulation and reversible photochromism.

    • Xiaojun Ding
    • , Jing Chen
    •  & Gang Ye

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The interconversion of the two spin isomers of formaldehyd has been studied in the gas phase but has never been observed experimentally in the condensed phase. Here the authors report the encapsulation of formaldehyde inside C60 cages and observe spin-isomer conversion of the formaldehyde guest molecules in the cryogenic solid state.

    • Vijyesh K. Vyas
    • , George R. Bacanu
    •  & Richard J. Whitby

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Smart sensors are important components in the development of touchless human-machine interaction systems. Here, the authors describe a smart 3D porous crystalline organic cage-based system that exhibits remarkable responsiveness to fingertip humidity, contributing to the advancement of touchless human-machine interaction technology.

    • Jinrong Wang
    • , Weibin Lin
    •  & Niveen M. Khashab

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The development of efficient adsorbents to capture iodine originating from radioactive wastes is of importance. Here, the authors synthesize hexacationic imidazolium organic cages and study the crucial role of the counter anions for iodine capture and the iodine binding modes at the molecular level on the solid state.

    • Jian Yang
    • , Shao-Jun Hu
    •  & Qing-Fu Sun

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The natural product BE-43547A2 (BE) could potentially serve as a template of hypoxia target strategy for treating pancreatic cancer, but the unsatisfactory pharmacokinetics profile and severe toxicity impeded the application of BE or its derivatives. Here the authors report a supramolecular dual hypoxia-responsive BE-based complex for achieving efficient drug delivery within tumors.

    • Jian-Shuang Guo
    • , Juan-Juan Li
    •  & Yue Chen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Controlling the self-assembly on noncovalent components is possible by suppressing entropy loss with templates but this is challenging for covalent components. Here the authors employed directing groups to endow purely covalent molecular building blocks with different conformations which favor the formation of specific self-assembled products.

    • Qiong Chen
    • , Zhaoyong Li
    •  & Hao Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The design of synthetic supramolecular receptors capable of enantioselective molecular recognition is challenging. Here the authors report a perylene bisimide-based receptor that forms heterochiral host-guest complexes upon aromatic guests encapsulation; guest recognition can be modulated by peripheral substitution of the binding site.

    • Manuel Weh
    • , Kazutaka Shoyama
    •  & Frank Würthner

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The removal of radioactive elements is important to human health and sustainable development. Here, the authors reveal the synthesis of water-stable Archimedean solids based on the earth-abundant element for the fast removal of trace iodine.

    • Ya-Jie Liu
    • , Yi-Fan Sun
    •  & Jian Zhang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The synthesis of stable chiral porous organic cages and the study of their chiral self-sorting properties is challenging. Here, the authors report axially chiral porous aromatic cages with high stability and solvent-controlled chiral self-sorting.

    • Dong-Xu Cui
    • , Yun Geng
    •  & Zhong-Min Su

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Modifying the reactivity of substrates by encapsulation is essential for microenvironment catalysts. Herein, the authors report an alternative strategy that modifies the entry behaviour of reactants and substrates to control the electron injection kinetics, thus affecting the selectivity of nitroarene photoreductions.

    • Yang Yang
    • , Xu Jing
    •  & Chunying Duan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The preparation of artificial host–guest systems that display dynamic adaptation during guest binding is challenging. Here the authors report a chiral self-assembled tetrahedral cage featuring curved walls that reconfigures stereochemically to fit fullerene guests, regulates corannulene inversion, and enables the determination of co-guest enantiomeric excess by NMR spectroscopy.

    • Yang Yang
    • , Tanya K. Ronson
    •  & Jonathan R. Nitschke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The removal of ethane from ethylene is of importance in the petrochemical industry, but similar physicochemical properties of these molecules makes separation a challenging task. Here, the authors demonstrate that a robust octahedral calix[4]resorcinarene-based porous organic cage can separate high-purity ethylene from ethane/ethylene mixtures.

    • Kongzhao Su
    • , Wenjing Wang
    •  & Daqiang Yuan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Realizing overtemperature protection with a molecular device is challenging. Here, the authors demonstrate an overtemperature protection function by integrating thermo- and photoresponsive functions into a pillar[6]arene based pseudocatanene.

    • Jiabin Yao
    • , Wanhua Wu
    •  & Cheng Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Design of artificial catalysts to mimic enzyme activity and selectivity is a challenge in the catalysis field. Here, the authors design a platinum catalyst with a porous cage ligand which shows enzyme-like properties, such as high hydrosilylation activity and substrate size selectivity, while being recyclable.

    • Ganghuo Pan
    • , Chunhua Hu
    •  & Yuzhou Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Xenon binding carries potential for xenon separation and emerging applications in magnetic resonance imaging. Here, the authors report a rare example of a tight yet soft capsule, assembled from two chiral bisurea-bisthiourea macrocycle components, that can efficiently and adaptively bind xenon in both the solid state and solution.

    • Shi-Xin Nie
    • , Hao Guo
    •  & Qi-Qiang Wang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Typical micelles are molecular assemblies composed of amphiphiles bearing linear alkyl chains. Herein, the authors present an uncommon type of cycloalkane-based bent amphiphile and its micelle which encapsulates large metal- complexes with high uptake efficiency, selectivity, and emissivity in water.

    • Mamiko Hanafusa
    • , Yamato Tsuchida
    •  & Michito Yoshizawa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Molecular motors and switches change conformation under the influence of an external stimulus and can be incorporated into functional systems, allowing the construction of adaptive materials and switchable catalysts. Here, the authors present two molecular motor-functionalized porphyrin macrocycles for future photo-switchable catalysis.

    • Pieter J. Gilissen
    • , Paul B. White
    •  & Roeland J. M. Nolte

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectroscopy can be useful for determining the absolute configuration of chiral molecules, as long as the signal intensities are high enough. Here, the authors establish the absolute configurations of two large chiral porphyrin cages and, notably, discover that host-guest binding enhances their VCD intensities.

    • Jiangkun Ouyang
    • , Anne Swartjes
    •  & Roeland J. M. Nolte

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The principles of intercellular communication in multicellular organisms can be explored using artificial cells. Here, the authors report on giant vesicles which can recognize diffused chemical signals and amplify the signal by synthetic enzymatic cascades to allow signal propagation over long distances.

    • Bastiaan C. Buddingh’
    • , Janneke Elzinga
    •  & Jan C. M. van Hest

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Developing simple routes for construction of multi-compartmental cages is a compelling and challenging task. Here, the authors report modular construction of multi-3D-cavity cages featuring one, two or three units of a [Pd2L4] entity conjoined with a [Pd3L6] core.

    • Sagarika Samantray
    • , Shobhana Krishnaswamy
    •  & Dillip K. Chand

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Supramolecular catalytic assemblies attract enormous interest due to their activity that rivals natural enzymes. Using ab initio molecular dynamics, the authors show that a gold catalyst in a Ga4L612- nanocage, while impeded by reorganization energy, is accelerated by hosting a catalytic water molecule.

    • Valerie Vaissier Welborn
    • , Wan-Lu Li
    •  & Teresa Head-Gordon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Constructing molecular cages from entangled molecules is a complex task requiring precise topological control. Here, the authors thread together six metal-peptide rings into a giant cubic molecular capsule with a defined cavity and 24 crossover points.

    • Tomohisa Sawada
    • , Yuuki Inomata
    •  & Makoto Fujita

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mechanically interlocked molecules and molecular cages are two important themes in supramolecular chemistry. Here, the authors combine these concepts to construct a giant [13]rotaxane built around a palladium capsule, one of the most complex metallosupramolecular assemblies yet.

    • Jesus Ferrando-Soria
    • , Antonio Fernandez
    •  & Richard E. P. Winpenny

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Polyamines are essential for cell growth and are frequently increased in concentration in cancer cells. Here, the authors use a macrocycle to generate a supramolecular trap, which depletes the polyamines in cells, induces apoptosis and reduces cancer cell growth in mice.

    • Junyi Chen
    • , Hanzhi Ni
    •  & Chunju Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The icosahedron, as the polyhedron closest in symmetry to the sphere, is one of the most compelling Platonic solids for chemists to construct. Here, the authors assemble a supramolecular icosahedron from twelve pentatopic corannulene-based tectons, a strategy that was proposed over a decade ago but only now synthetically realized.

    • Yu-Sheng Chen
    • , Ephrath Solel
    •  & Yi-Tsu Chan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Photoresponsive molecular capsules that can be used in water are rare. Here, the authors construct polyaromatic nanocapsules via self-assembly from photoswitch-bearing amphiphilic molecules in water. Light induces a structural change in the amphiphiles, triggering the capsule to disassemble into monomers and release encapsulated guests.

    • Lorenzo Catti
    • , Natsuki Kishida
    •  & Michito Yoshizawa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In this paper, the authors study the temperature-controlled dynamic behavior of a system of nanocubes self-assembled from two different building blocks. Non-intuitively, the disordered, equilibrium state (a mixture of heteroleptic cubes) and the ordered, out-of-equilibrium state (a mixture of homoleptic cubes) are cycled by heating and subsequent rapid cooling.

    • Yi-Yang Zhan
    • , Tatsuo Kojima
    •  & Shuichi Hiraoka

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Adapting the cavity of a coordination capsule generally involves the addition or removal of subcomponents. Here, the authors report two vanadium-organic coordination nanocapsules with the same number of components but variable cavity sizes—an expanded ball and contracted octahedron—whose solvent-controlled interconversion is attributed to the versatile coordination geometry of the vanadium centers.

    • Kongzhao Su
    • , Mingyan Wu
    •  & Maochun Hong

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Induced-fit binding, common in biological systems, is still relatively rare in artificial hosts. Here, the authors assemble a molecular cube from six gear-shaped faces, whose interdigitated design allows the cube to expand and contract in response to the size, shape, and charge of a guest molecule.

    • Yi-Yang Zhan
    • , Tatsuo Kojima
    •  & Shuichi Hiraoka

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Molecular capsules typically bind only guests with volumes smaller than their cavities. Here, the authors find that a polyaromatic capsule accommodates linear amphiphilic oligomers in a length-dependent manner, whereas short chains are fully crammed into the cavity, long chains can be incorporated into the capsule in a threaded fashion.

    • Masahiro Yamashina
    • , Shunsuke Kusaba
    •  & Michito Yoshizawa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Supramolecular assemblies remain of great importance to a variety of fields, yet their targeted design and synthesis remains highly challenging. Here, Cooper and colleagues combine computational screening with high-throughput robotic synthesis and discover 33 new organic cage molecules that form cleanly in one-pot syntheses.

    • R. L. Greenaway
    • , V. Santolini
    •  & A. I. Cooper

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Perylene diimide-bithiophene macrocycles are electroactive and shape-persistent hosts. Here, the authors describe their self-assembly into a cellular organic semiconducting film whose voids are electrically sensitive to different guests, and which can function as the active layer in a field-effect transistor device.

    • Boyuan Zhang
    • , Raúl Hernández Sánchez
    •  & Colin Nuckolls

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multistate molecular systems usually rely on external energy inputs to switch between states. Here, the authors show that a bispyridyl calixpyrrole system directed by only weak noncovalent interactions and metal coordination can access six discrete structural states, with directional and sequential control.

    • Takehiro Hirao
    • , Dong Sub Kim
    •  & Jonathan L. Sessler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Under confinement, molecular switches lose the conformational freedom often needed to isomerize. Here, the authors show that a flexible coordination cage can adapt its shape to guide the photoisomerization of encapsulated spiropyrans, rendering them reversibly photochromic even within the confines of the cavity.

    • Dipak Samanta
    • , Daria Galaktionova
    •  & Rafal Klajn

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Achieving sequence control in polymers is limited by the relative monomer reactivity and thus often statistically random copolymers are obtained. Here the authors show sequence control in radical polymerizations by immobilising the monomer on a porous coordination polymer and subsequent polymerization with a second free monomer.

    • Shuto Mochizuki
    • , Naoki Ogiwara
    •  & Takashi Uemura

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The structures of inorganic clusters are commonly characterized by mass spectrometry (MS), but neutral sulfur clusters heavily fragment under MS conditions, preventing their exact mass determination. Here, the authors successfully perform MS on labile cyclic sulfur clusters by stabilizing them within ionic supramolecular capsules.

    • Sho Matsuno
    • , Masahiro Yamashina
    •  & Michito Yoshizawa

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Functional nanoscale objects can be prepared via crystallization-driven self-assembly of diblock copolymers. Here the authors show the self-assembly of crystalline block copolymers into size-specific cylindrical micelles for the hierarchical construction of mechanically robust colloidosomes with a range of membrane textures.

    • Hongjing Dou
    • , Mei Li
    •  & Ian Manners

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The complex, multicomponent structures often found in nature are difficult to mimic synthetically. Here, the authors assemble a molecular analogue of a peanut through coordinative and π-stacking interactions, in which a polyaromatic double capsule ‘pod’ held together by metal ions encapsulates fullerene ‘beans’.

    • Kohei Yazaki
    • , Munetaka Akita
    •  & Michito Yoshizawa

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