The inverted cucurbit[n]uril family

We report the isolation, characterization, and recognition behavior of iCB[6] and iCB[7], which are diastereomers of CB[6] and CB[7], respectively, containing a single inverted glycoluril unit. Product resubmission experiments establish that these inverted CB[n] are intermediates in the mechanism of CB[n] formation. As a consequence of the inverted glycoluril ring, these inverted cucurbiturils possess a permanent dipole moment, are slightly smaller than their diastereomers, show distinctive selectivity in their recognition behavior, and report directly on the contents of their hydrophobic cavity.     

Pyrene-Hydrazone-π···Hole Coupled Turn-on Fluorescent and Naked- Eye Colorimetric Sensor for Cyanide: Role of Homogeneous π-Hole Dispersion in Anion Selectivity

A pyrene based probe associated with π···hole – hydrazone as one of the recognizing elements is synthesized and its turn in to a selective colorimetric and turn-on fluorescent sensor, (L³) for cyanide anion. This chemo sensor show high selectivity towards cyanide anion through photo electron transfer (PET) mechanism. The binding strength and sensitivity of the chemo sensor L³ towards cyanide are found to be 2.0 X 10⁴, and 4.44 x 10^-4 respectively. We have compared this high selectivity of the receptor towards cyanide, with our previously reported receptors L¹ and L². The detailed UV-Vis, Emission, ¹H-NMR, IR spectroscopic and Molecular Electrostatic Potential (MEP) studies reveals that the homogeneous π···hole dispersion in the aromatic ring governing the selectivity of the receptor towards cyanide anion. Such a positive π···hole homogeneous dispersion is missing in the case of sensor L², instead we have polarized π···hole dispersion towards 2^nd and 4^th position of di-nitrophenyl chromophoric unit in L².

Graphical Abstract

     

Synthesis of Glycoluril using Urea Phosphate

Russian Journal of Organic Chemistry - Glycolurils are building blocks for the synthesis of cucurbiturils that are important host materials for several applications. Glycolurils are prepared...     

Characterization of host-guest complexes of cucurbit[n]uril (n = 6, 7) by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

When an intramolecular cavity exists in a molecule, it can trap another chemical species to form a host-guest complex. We examine the formation of such an inclusion complex with cucurbit[n]uril (CBn, n = 6, 7) as the host to trap alkali metal or ammonium ions as the guest, by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). The results show that the inclusion complexes are formed between the three-dimensional cylinder of CBn hosts and the guest cations. Selectivity of the complex formation is dependent both on (1) ion-dipole interactions between the cylindrical portal of the CBn hosts and the guest cations and (2) the hydrophobic interactions at the inner cavity of CBn.     

Sequential formation of a ternary complex among dihexylammonium, cucurbit[6]uril, and cyclodextrin with positive cooperativity

[STRUCTURE: SEE TEXT] A unique ternary 1:1:1 cucurbit[6]uril (CB[6])-cyclodextrin (CD)-dihexylammonium (DHA) complex was designed and noncovalently synthesized in stepwise fashion: first, CB[6] interacts strongly with DHA to form a 1:1 complex; second, addition of CD into the solution of the 1:1 complex leads to the exclusive formation of the 1:1:1 ternary complex. The ternary complex was characterized by various experimental techniques including ITC, NMR, and ESI-MS.