Bromination of N-phenyloxypropyl-N'-ethyl-4,4'-bipyridium in cucurbit[8]uril molecular reactor

CBn](n=6-8) is a family of synthetic macrocyclic host molecules composed of n glycoluril units, which can be employed as molecular reactor. N-phenyloxypropyl-N'-ethyl-4,4'-bipyridium (1) was designed to form a host-guest inclusion complex with CBn](n=6-8), subsequently, the bromination reaction of 1 and its corresponding inclusion complexes was investigated in this work. In the case of 1/CB8], the folded including mode is quite helpful to acquire 1-bormination product completely through intramolecular charge transfer (ICT), and CB8] can provide a safe bromination environment for 1.