Dynamic supramolecular snub cubes

Huang Wu (), Yu Wang (), Luka Đorđević, Pramita Kundu, Surojit Bhunia, Aspen X.-Y. Chen, Liang Feng, Dengke Shen, Wenqi Liu, Long Zhang, Bo Song, Guangcheng Wu, Bai-Tong Liu, Moon Young Yang, Yong Yang, Charlotte L. Stern, Samuel I. Stupp, William A. Goddard, Wenping Hu () and J. Fraser Stoddart ()
Additional contact information
Huang Wu: Tianjin University
Yu Wang: Tianjin University
Luka Đorđević: University of Padova
Pramita Kundu: The University of Hong Kong
Surojit Bhunia: The University of Hong Kong
Aspen X.-Y. Chen: The University of Hong Kong
Liang Feng: Duke University
Dengke Shen: Anhui University
Wenqi Liu: University of South Florida
Long Zhang: Northwestern University
Bo Song: Northwestern University
Guangcheng Wu: The University of Hong Kong
Bai-Tong Liu: The University of Hong Kong
Moon Young Yang: California Institute of Technology
Yong Yang: City University of Hong Kong
Charlotte L. Stern: Northwestern University
Samuel I. Stupp: Northwestern University
William A. Goddard: California Institute of Technology
Wenping Hu: Tianjin University
J. Fraser Stoddart: The University of Hong Kong

Nature, 2025, vol. 637, issue 8045, 347-353

Abstract: Abstract Mimicking the superstructures and properties of spherical biological encapsulants such as viral capsids1 and ferritin2 offers viable pathways to understand their chiral assemblies and functional roles in living systems. However, stereospecific assembly of artificial polyhedra with mechanical properties and guest-binding attributes akin to biological encapsulants remains a formidable challenge. Here we report the stereospecific assembly of dynamic supramolecular snub cubes from 12 helical macrocycles, which are held together by 144 weak C–H hydrogen bonds3. The enantiomerically pure snub cubes, which have external diameters of 5.1 nm, contain 2,712 atoms and chiral cavities with volumes of 6,215 Å3. The stereospecific assembly of left- and right-handed snub cubes was achieved by means of a hierarchical chirality transfer protocol4, which was streamlined by diastereoselective crystallization. In addition to their reversible photochromic behaviour, the snub cubes exhibit photocontrollable elasticity and hardness in their crystalline states. The snub cubes can accommodate numerous small guest molecules simultaneously and encapsulate two different guest molecules separately inside the uniquely distinct compartments in their frameworks. This research expands the scope of artificial supramolecular assemblies to imitate the chiral superstructures, dynamic features and binding properties of spherical biomacromolecules and also establishes a protocol for construction of crystalline materials with photocontrollable mechanical properties.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08266-3

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