A Superior and accessible cavitand receptor for the binding of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes in water

Abstract

A water-soluble receptor based on resorcin[4]arene featuring 8 solubilising carboxylate units (BC4) has been obtained in a straightforward manner without chromatographic purifications. BC4 is soluble in water in a wide range of pH, and is able to accommodate guests of different sizes and shapes, including monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes, providing enhanced binding capabilities with respect to previously reported analogues. The molecular recognition events within BC4 are sensitive to subtle changes in guest shape and size, as illustrated by disparate exchange kinetics observed among the guests tested

We are grateful for financial support from grants PID2020-113181GB-I00, TED2021-130573B-I00, PID2023-146498NB-I00, and REQ2021_B_05 funded by MICIU/AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and by the European Union NextGenerationEU/PRTR. We thank AGAUR/Generalitat de Catalunya for funding (2021SGR623) and for a pre-doctoral fellowship to R. L. (2020 FI_B 00132)

Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with the RSC