Hydrogen bonded supramolecular capsules with functionalized interiors: the controlled orientation of included guests

Abstract

This tutorial review aims to present and describe selected examples of still quite rare endo-functionalized supramolecular capsules. Only capsules assembled through the use of neutral or polar hydrogen bonding interactions are covered. The ability of these capsules to orient and control the position of the encapsulated guest molecules represents their stand-out feature. Thus, the way in which guests interact with the functionalized interior of the capsules is discussed in detail. Several of the described capsular assemblies display chiral architectures. The manner in which chirality is manifested in these assemblies is far from trivial. For this reason, we also offer explanations of the chiral features expressed by the relevant capsules and their encapsulation complexes.