Supramolecular ternary polymer mediated by cucurbituril and cyclodextrin

A novel supramolecular ternary polymer mediated by macrocyclic molecules cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]) and cyclodextrin was successfully constructed, based on the CB[8]-stabilized charge-transfer (CT) interaction and cyclodextrin–adamantane host–guest interaction. Herein, we synthesized a naphthol-modified β-cyclodextrin (Np-β-CD) and an adamantane–viologen ditopic guest to obtain a ditopic host–guest complex with a preorientational donor–acceptor pair. Furthermore, after addition of CB[8] to the complex, the donor–acceptor pair of naphthol–viologen was encapsulated into the cavity of CB[8] leading to a linear supramolecular polymer which was well characterized by various methods, including DOSY, DLS, SEM, TEM and AFM. This work enriches the field of supramolecular polymers and provides a novel method to fabricate supramolecular architectures with multiple macrocyclic host molecules.