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Supramolecular gating of guest release from cucurbit[7]uril using de novo design

Lambert, H; Castillo Bonillo, A; Zhu, Q; Zhang, YW; Lee, TC; (2022) Supramolecular gating of guest release from cucurbit[7]uril using de novo design. npj Computational Materials , 8 (1) , Article 21. 10.1038/s41524-022-00702-0. Green open access

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Abstract

Herein we computationally explore the modulation of the release kinetics of an encapsulated guest molecule from the cucurbit[7]uril (CB7) cavity by ligands binding to the host portal. We uncovered a correlation between the ligand-binding affinity with CB7 and the guest residence time, allowing us to rapidly predict the release kinetics through straightforward energy minimization calculations. These high-throughput predictions in turn enable a Monte-Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) to de novo design a series of cap-shaped ligand molecules with large binding affinities and boosting guest residence times by up to 7 orders of magnitude. Notably, halogenated aromatic compounds emerge as top-ranking ligands. Detailed modeling suggests the presence of halogen-bonding between the ligands and the CB7 portal. Meanwhile, the binding of top-ranked ligands is supported by 1H NMR and 2D DOSY-NMR. Our findings open up possibilities in gating of molecular transport through a nanoscale cavity with potential applications in nanopore technology and controlled drug release.

Type: Article
Title: Supramolecular gating of guest release from cucurbit[7]uril using de novo design
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1038/s41524-022-00702-0
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41524-022-00702-0
Language: English
Additional information: © 2022 Springer Nature Limited. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords: Atomistic models, Molecular self-assembly, Nanopores, Self-assembly
UCL classification: UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > MAPS Faculty Office > Institute for Materials Discovery
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > MAPS Faculty Office
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10143787
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