Shape-persistent arylene ethynylene organic hosts for fullerenes

Shape-persistent host molecules that are constructed solely through covalent bonds have been extensively investigated as alternatives to supramolecular architectures, which have shown interesting applications such as guest encapsulation and release, catalysis, and molecular recognition. Similar to the supramolecular self-assembly process, recent rapid development of dynamic covalent chemistry has enabled the covalent assembly of complex organic molecules that exhibit a finite cavity of well-defined shape and size. Alkyne metathesis represents an emerging dynamic covalent reaction, which provides rigid and linear acetylene linkages. In this account, we describe the dynamic assembly of shape-persistent arylene ethynylene cages with various shapes and sizes through one-step alkyne metathesis. The controlled cage-fullerene binding and the potential application of these cages in fullerene purification are also discussed.