Resorcinarene - Supramolecular Chemistry

Supramolecular Chemistry

Yasuhiro Aoyama's research group at Kyoto University first noted the potential for resorcinarenes to interact with other molecules as a host-guest complex. It was later found that resorcinarenes and pyrogallolarenes self-assemble into to larger supramolecular structures. Both in the crystalline state and in organic solvents, six resorcinarene molecules are known to form hexamers with an internal volume of around one cubic nanometer (nanocapsules) and shapes similar to the Archimedean solids. Hydrogen bonds appear to hold the assembly together. A number of solvent or other molecules reside inside.

The resorcinarene is also the basic structural unit for other molecular recognition scaffolds. A number of chemists, including Nobel-laureate Donald J. Cram, constructed novel molecular structures based on this macrocycle, namely cavitands and carcerands.