Supramolecular polymers and networks driven by cucurbit[8]uril-guest pair encapsulation in water

Cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]) is robust in encapsulating a stacking dimer of two identical or different aromatic units in water. In recent years, this ternary host–guest complexation motif has found wide applications in constructing supramolecular systems by noncovalently connecting molecular, supramolecular and polymeric precursors. This review summarises the important advance, in particular, in the generation of linear supramolecular polymers and extended supramolecular networks including periodic supramolecular organic frameworks.