Clipping an Angel's Wings

Glycoluril is a concave molecule with hydrogen donor and acceptor sites. It can be provided with aromatic side walls to form a molecule with a clip-shape structure. This review highlights the host-guest and self-assembling properties of glycoluril clips and discusses their use as building blocks for the construction of a wide variety of architectures, such as capsules, razor-blades, cigars, golf-balls, tennis balls, and soft balls. Glycoluril clips have also been applied as components of biomimetic catalytic systems and as building blocks to create advanced materials.