Bio-inspired Supramolecular Polyhedra Encapsulants: Publication Now on Nature!

January 8, 2025 | Complex non-covalently enantiomeric supramolecular polyhedra exhibit great potential in building biomimetic artificial containers.

Spherical biological encapsulants, such as viral capsids and ferritin, have attracted great attention from chemists and material scientists due to their dynamic supramolecular polyhedral superstructure, well-defined stereochemistries, and the ability to accommodate multicomponent guest molecules. Numerous artificial supramolecular polyhedra with diverse shapes and abundant binding properties have been developed to mimic spherical biological encapsulants and have shown great potential in molecular separation, reaction catalysis, and protein stabilization. In a recent breakthrough, Feng contributed to a collaborative work exhibiting a bottom-up construction of a stereospecific assembly of dynamic supramolecular snub cubes. This discovery is now published online, titled "Dynamic supramolecular snub cubes", in Nature. The research is a collaborative effort involving Huang Wu, Yu Wang, Wenping Hu, Fraser Stoddart, and others. 

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Fraser

In this research, the synthesis of the stereospecific assembly of dynamic supramolecular snub cubes (SSCs) is reported, from 12 identical helical macrocycles driven by 144 weak C–H hydrogen bonds, including [C–H···F], [C–H···O], and [C–H···π] interactions. Mimicking the dynamic nature of protein capsids, the SSCs are responsive to stimuli and show dynamic reversibility and tunability in mechanical properties under light. Mimicking the multicomponent binding properties of viral capsids, the SSCs also exhibit a remarkable capacity to accommodate numerous small guest molecules simultaneously as well as two different guest molecules separately inside their inner cavities and outer pockets. These SSCs provide a foundation for developing biomimetic materials with tailored functionalities and stimuli-responsive behaviors, enhancing their utility in fields, such as nanosensor development, controlled drug delivery, and Molecular encapsulation and separation.

Learning from nature, Feng Group at Duke MEMS seeks to develop molecular systems that mimic the intricate functionalities observed in biological processes. By emulating the complex molecular assembly observed in nature, we aim to design and fabricate novel bioinspired soft matter with innovative behaviors for applications in self-assembly, drug delivery, and antibacterial solutions.