Self-Assembling Sieves

A modular strategy has been applied to synthesize large, porous, self-assembling capsules. The coupling of tricyclic building blocks incorporating glycoluril hydrogen-bonding units and derivatives of triethylbenzene produces monomers which readily form homo- and heterodimeric assemblies (calculated structure is shown). Large guests can be trapped while small solvent molecules flow freely through the pores of the capsules.