Citation: Ze Cao, Chenqi Ge, Yating Wu, Hua Tang, Yueyan Kuang, Yuyang Wu, Hao Li. Self-assembled chiral cages for anion recognition[J]. Chinese Chemical Letters, ;2026, 37(3): 111554. doi: 10.1016/j.cclet.2025.111554 shu

Self-assembled chiral cages for anion recognition

Ze Cao ^{a, 1} ,
Chenqi Ge ^{a, 1} ,
Yating Wu ^a ,
Hua Tang ^a ,
Yueyan Kuang ^a ,
Yuyang Wu ^a ,
Hao Li ^{a, b, *,}

a.
Department of Chemistry, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
b.
ZJU-Hangzhou Global Scientific and Technological Innovation Center, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 311200, China

lihao2015@zju.edu.cn

Received Date: 20 April 2025
Revised Date: 20 June 2025
Accepted Date: 7 July 2025
Available Online: 8 July 2025

Figures(5)

In this study, two chiral cationic cage-shaped hosts were successfully self-assembled via imine condensation, achieving near-quantitative yields. Compared with the counterparts bearing a single imine bond, the intrinsic multivalency of the cage frameworks confers significant robustness to the cages, even when exposed to aqueous environments. Each cage features three relatively acidic CH protons oriented towards the interior cavity or clefts, enabling the efficient recognition of anionic guests through cooperative hydrogen bonding. The cage containing pyridinium functions adopts a pseudo face-in conformation, thus it accommodates anionic guests in its peripheral windows in a 1:2 stoichiometry. As a comparison, the cage containing imidazolium functions adopts an edge-in conformation, and thus recognizes the anions within the cavity in a 1:1 binding stoichiometry.
- Self-assembly,
- Chiral cage,
- Dynamic covalent bond,
- Anion recognition
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