Inspired by the work of MacGillivray and Atwood, among others, Eric Bosch (Missouri State University, USA) has been investigating the self-assembly of chain-link hydrogen-bonded capsules from resorcinarenes and bipyrimidines.

In his recent CrystEngComm Highlight, Bosch describes his quest to predictably make chain-link hydrogen-bonded capsules where he can control capsule volume by using bipyrimidine molecules of specific size.   He has found that the bipyrimidine linkers between the hydrogen-bonded capsules can self-assemble in one of two orientations: horizontally or vertically.   The packing of solvent molecules between the ribbons of chain-link capsules appears to significantly affect linker orientation and thus capsule volume.

Bosch's research efforts are now aimed at understanding how to better control orientation of the linker as well as inter-chain packing.