title: Three-dimensional periodic supramolecular organic framework ion sponge in water and microcrystals.
abstract: Self-assembly has emerged as a powerful approach to generating complex supramolecular architectures. Despite there being many crystalline frameworks reported in the solid state, the construction of highly soluble periodic supramolecular networks in a three-dimensional space is still a challenge. Here we demonstrate that the encapsulation motif, which involves the dimerization of two aromatic units within cucurbit[8]uril, can be used to direct the co-assembly of a tetratopic molecular block and cucurbit[8]uril into a periodic three-dimensional supramolecular organic framework in water. The periodicity of the supramolecular organic framework is supported by solution-phase small-angle X-ray-scattering and diffraction experiments. Upon evaporating the solvent, the periodicity of the framework is maintained in porous microcrystals. As a supramolecular 'ion sponge', the framework can absorb different kinds of anionic guests, including drugs, in both water and microcrystals, and drugs absorbed in microcrystals can be released to water with selectivity.
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), Department of Chemistry, Fudan University, 220 Handan Road, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Jia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Synthetic and Self-Assembly Chemistry for Organic Functional Molecules, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 345 Lingling Lu, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Tian-You
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), Department of Chemistry, Fudan University, 220 Handan Road, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Shao-Chen
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Shaul
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Aloni
authors.affiliation: The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Maria Virginia
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Altoe
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), Department of Chemistry, Fudan University, 220 Handan Road, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Song-Hai
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), Department of Chemistry, Fudan University, 220 Handan Road, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), Department of Chemistry, Fudan University, 220 Handan Road, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Dan-Wei
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Synthetic and Self-Assembly Chemistry for Organic Functional Molecules, Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 345 Lingling Lu, Shanghai 200032, China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: The Molecular Foundry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, One Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials (iChEM), Department of Chemistry, Fudan University, 220 Handan Road, Shanghai 200433, China.
authors.forename: Zhan-Ting
authors.initials: ZT
authors.lastname: Li