Posted by Octakis-6-guadinidino-γ-cyclodextrin (gguan) hydrochloride in the presence of phosphates crystallises from aqueous solution in the unprecedented form of a superdimer (dimer-within-a-dimer). The self-assembly exposes four circular octa-guanidinium regions that bind and stabilise discrete H-bonded phosphate anion dimers. The small (∼2 nm) gguan-phosphate assembly is preorganised and stable in aqueous solution, as demonstrated by DLS and NMR experiments.
Emmanuel Saridakis, Eleni-Marina Kasimati, Konstantina Yannakopoulou, Irene M. Mavridis (2022) A guanidino-γ-cyclodextrin superdimer generates a twin receptor for phosphate dimers assembled by anti-electrostatic hydrogen bonds. Chem. Commun. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2CC00323F