Advancement in supramolecular control of organic reactivity induced by cucurbit[n]urils

Abstract

This Review Article covers advances over the past two decades in the field of the organic modulation reactivity by supramolecular hosts. Specifically, the scope of this review is focused on some members of the cucurbit[n]urils (CB[n]) family. As we will show with different examples, the use of CB [6], CB [7] and CB [8] enables modification of the reactivity on a wide variety of reactions by their exceptional recognition properties in aqueous medium, adequate size, hydrophobic cavity and polarity portals. The first part of this review gives a brief discussion of the chemical properties of CB[n] relevant to understanding their effect on the reactivity of organic guests. Then, this article highlights two opposite effects: catalysis and inhibition processes based on the ability of CB[n] to modulate the chemical reactivity of representatives guests. Some examples of organic reactions, such as solvolysis, oxidation, isomerization, cicloaddition, among others, are discussed from a kinetic and thermodynamic point of view.