Building Covalent Molecular Capsules by Thiol-Michael Addition Click Reaction

The thiol-Michael addition (TMA) is a powerful methodology to click several fragments together, despite having been underestimated in the synthesis of complex systems for supramolecular chemistry. Herein, a very fast and efficient method has been developed to make covalent molecular capsules by taking advantage of the TMA click reaction. Several scaffolds commonly used in supramolecular chemistry, such as calixarenes, CTV, or cavitands, have been used to quickly obtain covalent cages. Additionally, a ‘click&click’ procedure has been also developed, by sequential combination of TMA and CuAAC click reaction, as an easy and quick way to build complex molecular structures.