Supramolecular confinement as a tool to control the dynamic molecular assembly of o-nitrosocumene in water.

The results presented here collectively illustrate that in addition to temperature and concentration, macrocyclic hosts cucurbiturils, cyclodextrins, and octa acid can be employed to manipulate the complex equilibria of ortho-nitrosocumene monomers (M), dimers (D), and their non-covalent aggregates (A) in water. The extent and location of free space and the micropolarity of the reaction cavity are important in controlling the dynamics of the guests confined in the octa acid capsule to fully tilt the M-D equilibrium towards M, even when two M are packed in a single capsule.