Organic Chemistry

Topic includes the synthesis and the application of new types of macrocyclic hosts, namely cyclodextrin duplexes, for supramolecular self-assembly in solutions and on surfaces. The solution studies deal with i) equilibrium in small dynamic libraries composed of duplexes containing α-,β- and γ-cyclodextrin building blocks in dependence on the shape and size of the guests and ii) potential use of the duplexes as ditopic connectors in supramolecular self-assemblies. On surfaces, the possibility of the application of these molecules as connectors for the preparation of well-defined multi-layered assemblies (layer-by-layer self-assembly; in cooperation with the Molecular Nanofabrication Group, University of Twente) will be studied.