Supramolecular Analytical Application of Cucurbit[n]urils Using Fluorescence Spectroscopy

Cucurbit[n]urils (CB[n]) are a new family of macrocyclic synthetic host molecules that are cyclic oligomers composed of a varying number of glycoluril units bridged by methylene groups. The most important feature of CB[n]s is their ability to form inclusion complexes (host-guest complexes) with a very wide range of solid, liquid, and gaseous compounds by molecular complexation. During the past few years, a considerable number of research papers have been focused on the use of CB[n] s to enhance or quench the fluorescence intensity of different guest molecules and to develop CB[n]-induced or quench spectrofluorimetric methods. In this review, the various spectrofluorimetric methods based on a host-inclusion complex of CB[n] with a various analytes in solution are presented and discussed.