Synthesis and Recognition Properties of Cucurbit[n]uril Type Receptors

集装箱有多种用途，例如保存食物，组织对象集合，以及在将对象运送到特定目的地的过程中保存对象。在化学领域，分子容器被用来分离有气味的分子，通过不允许不稳定化合物与其他分子反应来延长它们的寿命，并改变重要的分子性质，如溶解度。在马里兰大学，莱尔·艾萨克斯教授的研究小组研究被称为南瓜的下一代分子容器。通过创造一系列新的南瓜脲类容器，研究它们的基本容器属性，并展示它们如何整合到复杂系统中，Isaacs的团队使其他学术和工业实验室能够使南瓜脲分子容器适应药物输送和成瘾非处方药传感等应用。Isaacs的研究数据被用来通过蛋白质和配体建模统计评估(SAMPL)挑战计划来刺激与计算化学家的互动。研究人员还在学前班开展推广活动，并分发用于光谱方法课程的问题集。研究重点是开发一种名为葫芦巴[n]脲(CB[n])的分子容器化合物家族的合成和超分子化学。这个项目的一个重要目标是发展结构亲和力关系，以完善对CB[n]与阳离子金刚烷分子非常紧密的结合亲和力的理解。新的非环葫芦醇容器具有三苯并三烯衍生的芳香壁，允许对表面进行裁剪，以实现手性识别和客体选择性。通过将CB[n]容器连接到金属-有机多面体，研究团队调查了CB[n]容器内的客人是如何被吸收的，进一步促进了金属-有机多面体内部的化学反应。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Containers have a variety of uses, such as to preserve foodstuff, to organize collections of objects, and to hold objects during their shipment to specific destinations. In the chemistry realm, molecular containers are used to isolate molecules that smell, to extend the lifetime of unstable compounds by not allowing them to react with other molecules, and to change important molecular properties like solubility. At the University of Maryland, Professor Lyle Isaacs' research group studies next generation molecular containers known as cucurbiturils. By creating a series of new cucurbituril-type containers, studying their basic container properties, and showing how they may be integrated into complex systems, the Isaacs' group enables other academic and industrial labs to adapt cucurbituril molecular containers to applications such as drug delivery and sensing of addictive over-the-counter drugs. Isaacs' research data is used to stimulate interactions with computational chemists via the program Statistical Assessment of the Modeling of Proteins and Ligands (SAMPL) Challenges. The researchers also conduct outreach activities with pre-schools, and disseminate problem sets for use in spectroscopic methods courses.The research focuses on the development of the synthetic and supramolecular chemistry of a family of molecular container compounds called cucurbit[n]uril (CB[n]). An important aim of this project is to develop structure affinity relationships that refine the understanding of the extraordinarily tight binding affinity of CB[n] toward cationic diamondoid molecules. The new acyclic cucurbituril containers have triptycene derived aromatic walls that allow tailoring of the surface to enable chiral recognition and guest selectivity. By linking the CB[n] containers to metal-organic polyhedra, the research team investigates how guests are take up inside the CB[n] containers, further promoting chemical reactivity inside the metal-organic polyhedra.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.