Formation of Single‐Chain Polymer Nanoparticles in Water through Host–Guest Interactions

Smart materials: Metastable single-chain polymeric nanoparticles were prepared through stimuli-responsive and reversible intramolecular crosslinking of a single polymer chain in water. Functionalization of poly(N-hydroxyethylacrylamide) polymers with two complementary guests for cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]), namely viologen and naphthalene, followed by addition of the macrocycle thus allowed for facile preparation of such nanoparticles (see picture).