Cucurbit[6]uril-Based Supramolecular Assemblies: Possible Application in Radioactive Cesium Cation Capture

Multidimensional supramolecular assemblies
based on cucurbit­[n]­uril (n = 6
or 7) were constructed via
the outer-surface interactions of cucurbit­[n]­urils
with the polyaromatic compound 4,4′,4″-benzene-1,3,5-triyl-tribenzoate
as a structure-directing agent. Most impressively, the cucurbit[6]­uril-based
assembly exhibits high selectivity for capture of cesium cations among
the common alkali metal ions in a basic medium and releases the cesium
cations under acidic conditions. This reversible process enables possible
applications in cesium cation capture.