Water-soluble supramolecular polymers constructed by macrocycle-based host-guest interactions

Abstract Supramolecular polymers, which combined of the supramolecular chemistry and polymer science, are constructed from monomers together by reversible noncovalent interactions. Supramolecular polymers in aqueous solution are especially important due to their superior biocompatibility and environmental adaptation, which determined they have wide applications in various areas, such as drug delivery, self-healing, shape memory. Macrocyclic compounds, such as cyclodextrins, calixarenes, cucurbiturils and pillar[ n ]arenes, are the most used building blocks in the preparation of supramolecular polymers. Macrocycle-based supramolecular polymers, which introduce the host-guest interaction in the system, endow these polymers with interesting and smart physical-chemical properties. In this review, we summarized recent studies about supramolecular polymers in aqueous solution based on macrocyclic compounds.