Hexamethylcucurbit[3,3]uril-Based Porous Supramolecular Assemblies and Their Adsorption Properties

In the present work, we selected hexamethylcucurbit[3,3]uril (Me6Q[3,3]) as a building block and obtained two Me6Q[3,3]-based porous supramolecular assemblies from neutral water (A) and aqueous HCl solutions (B), respectively. Both Me6Q[3,3]-based assemblies are constructed of Me6Q[3,3] molecules through the typical outer surface interaction of cucurbit[n]urils, as well as hydrogen bonding between latticed water molecules and portal carbonyl oxygens of Me6Q[3,3]. The assemblies present different porous structure features and exhibit different adsorption properties for eight common volatile organic compounds. However, the two porous assemblies exhibit similar adsorption properties for certain fluorophore dyes, including rhodamine B (G1), fluorescein (G2), and pyrene (G3), and form solid colored fluorescent compounds, some of which exhibit responses to the selected volatile organic compounds.