Host-guest chemistry has witnessed a renaissance under the name ‘supramolecular chemistry’ since the award of Nobel Prize to Cram, Lehn and Pederson. During the last five decades ‘supramolecular chemistry’ has enabled the visualization and exploitation of weak interactions toward altering the chemical and physical behavior of a molecule. It has aided in threading several concepts of host-guest chemistry that have existed for over a century. Enclosing a molecule (guest) within another molecule (host) ‘tames’ the former to result in a behavior different from that in solution. In general, the chemical and physical behavior of a molecule within a confined space (cage, cavity, capsule, box, container etc.) is defined by the size and free space within the container, the dynamics of the container, weak interactions between the container and the content, and the content’s restricted freedom. This talk will illustrate with examples the remarkable changes in the photochemical and photophysical properties of different molecules on placing them within a water-soluble cavitand trivially known as octa acid. The primary goal is to demonstrate the different behavior of molecules when enclosed in a space not much larger than itself. [1] V. Ramamurthy and S. Gupta, Supramolecular Photochemistry: from molecular crystals to water-soluble capsules, Chem. Soc. Rev., 2015, 44, 119-135. (review) [2] V. Ramamurthy, S. Jockusch and M. Porel, Supramolecular Photochemistry in Solution and on Surfaces: Encapsulation and Dynamics of Guest Molecules and Communication between Encapsulated and Free Molecules, Langmuir, 2015, 31, 5554-5570 (Feature Article). [3] Photochemistry within a water-soluble organic capsule, V. Ramamurthy, Acc. Chem. Res. accepted (2015).

Photochemistry within a water-soluble organic capsule

251st National Meeting (2016)

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