Self-assembled Architectures from Glycoluril

The controlled self-assembly of derivatives of the concave building block glycoluril into three-dimensional architectures of well-defined shape and dimension is discussed. It is shown that the hexameric glycoluril macrocycle cucurbituril can be applied to construct a variety of oligo- and polyrotaxane assemblies. In a different approach, bis(glycoluril) compounds have been used to form “tennis ball”- and “softball”-like assemblies which can complex small guest molecules in their inner compartment and carry out reactions between them. Finally, the self-assembling properties of molecular clip receptors based on glycoluril are discussed. These clips can be modified in such a way that assemblies of well-defined shape and nanosized dimension, such as “golf balls”, “razorblades”, and “cigars”, are formed in water.