title: Rotaxane-Like Structures Threaded through the Pores of Hollow Porous Nanocapusles.
abstract: Nanocapsules with molecules threaded through the porous shells may lead to advanced cell-mimicking functional devices. Herein, we show the feasibility of synthesizing such hybrid nanostructures by using vesicle-templated polymer nanocapsules with controlled nanopores. Ship-in-a-bottle assembly inside a nanocapsule created an internal unit. An external unit was then connected to an entrapped internal unit through pre-attached linker threaded through a nanopore in the shell of the nanocapsule. Both internal and external units are larger than the pore size and cannot cross the shell, producing a rotaxane-like structure. Successful synthesis was achieved with fairly short linkers (six and ten carbon atoms in a chain), creating an opportunity for facile synthesis of functional devices capable of cross-shell communication.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Connecticut, 55 North Eagleville Road, Storrs, CT, 06269, (USA).
authors.forename: Sergey A
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6668-6445
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Dergunov
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Saint Louis University, 3501 Laclede Avenue, St. Louis, MO, 63103, USA.
authors.forename: Nasim
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ehterami
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Connecticut, 55 North Eagleville Road, Storrs, CT, 06269, (USA). eugene.pinkhassik@uconn.edu.
authors.forename: Eugene
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1429-0435
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pinkhassik
keywords: Mannich reaction; encapsulation; nanocapsules; rotaxane-like structures; threads