The affinities of 20 hydrocarbons for the cavity formed by the inner wall of cucurbit[8]uril and a tolyl unit linked to an auxiliary guest were measured in aqueous solution. Cucurbit[8]uril and the auxiliary guest, a substituted ruthenium tris(2,2'-bipyridyl) complex bearing a trifluoromethyl F NMR probe, displayed perfect selectivity toward cyclic hydrocarbons, and cis- and trans-decalin, in particular. Unlike π-π interactions, CH-π interactions, as well as differences in hydrocarbon solvation, contribute significantly to the recognition process.

Mimicking cucurbiturils with low polarizability solvents and pre-formed cavities allows the in silico prediction of their selectivities towards hydrocarbons and noble gases in aqueous solution.

The cucurbit[8]uril macrocycle can secure a platinum terpyridyl complex into a particularly reactive dimer that catalyzes the photoreduction of water.

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The torsional barriers along the Caryl-Caryl axis of a pair of isosteric disubstituted biphenyls were determined by variable temperature 1H NMR spectroscopy in three solvents with contrasted hydrogen bond accepting...