The review surveys new data on the directed construction of supramolecular organic-inorganic compounds from macrocyclic cavitand cucurbit [6]uril (C 36 H 36 N 24 O 12 ) and mono-and polynuclear aqua complexes. Due to the presence of polarized carbonyl groups, cucurbit[6]uril forms strong complexes with alkali, alkaline earth and rare-earth metal ions, and hydrogen-bonded supramolecular adducts with cluster and polynuclear aqua complexes of transitional metals. A wide variety of supramolecular compounds and their unique structures are described.
CUCURBIT[N]URILSCucurbit[n]urils are organic macrocyclic cavitands synthesized by condensation of formaldehyde with glycoluril [1-6]. The cucurbit[n]uril molecules resemble in shape a barrel containing two identical carbonile fringed portals (Chart 1). Having a large inner cavity, cucurbit[n]urils can serve as hosts to form inclusion compounds with guest molecules of suitable size [3,4,[7][8][9]. Due to the presence of polarized carbonyl groups, cucurbit[n]urils can also form complexes and hydrogen-bonded supramolecular adducts with mono-and polynuclear aqua complexes.Cucurbituril with composition C 36 H 36 N 24 O 12 (cucurbit[6]uril, Q6) consisting of six methylenelinked glycoluril fragments has been studied the most. This compound is the first example of cucurbiturils, and almost a century has passed since its first synthesis by Behrend [1]. The chemical nature and structure of cucurbit[6]uril had been unknown until 1981, when full characterization was reported by Freeman [2]. The dimensions of the inner cavity of Q6 (the height is 6 Å and the inner diameter is 5.5 *Plenary lecture presented at the