UK chemists have created a new class of container molecules that can incorporate different functional groups on their exterior surface, much like a cell displays different biomolecules on its surface.
Jonathan Nitschke and colleagues at the University of Cambridge used subcomponent self-assembly to make tetrahedral metal-organic capsules with twelve exchangeable aniline residues at the vertices of the cage. The modular construction allows their exteriors to be tailored to suit a given environment and reconfigured in response to external stimuli, explains Nitschke. The capsules bind guest species with great selectivity, he adds.
Nitschke talks about this study and his ideas for future work in the latest Chemical Science audio file, which accompanies his Edge article.
For more information about container molecules, read Nitschke’s Chemical Science Mini review and his ChemComm communication, part of the ChemComm Emerging Investigators issue.
