Abstract
Chemists at Massachusetts Institute of Technology have designed and synthesized organic molecule that hydrogen bonds with another of its kind to form a spherical complex that can trap other molecules in its cavity. This is one of the most beautiful self-assembling systems yet reported, says a scientist familiar with the work. And it is an important contribution to the burgeoning field of supramolecular chemistry, which has become a hotbed of activity in recent years. Scarcely a week goes by now without some group reporting the self-assembly of a complicated, noncovalent structure from simpler building blocks. The spherical complex prepared at MIT is the first and simplest member of a family of supramolecular assemblies being developed by organic chemistry professor Julius Rebek Jr. and coworkers. The inspiration for their work comes from the biological world, where, for example, globular viruses like the AIDS virus traverse cell membranes, carrying their biochemical cargo into and out of ...
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