Pillarene-involved metallic supramolecular nanostructures

Pillarenes (or pillararenes), as a new and rapidly developing class of covalent macrocycles, have stimulated a tremendous upsurge of interest in supramolecular chemistry because of their unique features and potentials in fabricating functional materials. In addition, metallo-supramolecular chemistry has grown steadily over the last few decades. The presence of metal in supramolecular architectures enables the systematic tuning of their properties and endows them with optical, magnetic, and electric etcetera unusual properties. The marriage of these two fields offers new possibilities for the fabrication of novel functional materials and devices. This review article provides an overview of recent advancements on pillararene-based metallic supramolecular assemblies. The fabrication and functionalities of pillararene-decorated metallic macrocycles, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), and metal nanoparticles are comprehensively summarized and discussed.