A ligand-free, highly efficient Cu-catalytic N-arylation of iminodibenzyl and iminostilbene derivatives with a broad scope of unactivated aryl halides under mild conditions has been developed for the first time. Moreover, the first Ni-based catalytic system was also applied to the N-arylation of pre-existing derivatives. These novel protocols provide facile and convenient access to the construction of dibenzazepines and offer promising alternatives to the widely used palladium catalysts.

A host–guest molecular recognition is reported between cucurbit[7]uril and butyrylcholine with the driving forces of hydrophobic and charge-dipole interactions. On the basis of this recognition, an enzyme- and photo-responsive supramolecular amphiphile is fabricated, which self-assembles into vesicles in aqueous solution. The assembly and disassembly of vesicles are successfully employed in stimuli-triggered releases of doxorubicin hydrochloride.

Organic solvent soluble gold nanoparticles based on pillar[5]arenes were prepared for the first time. They can reversibly aggregate and disassemble based on photo[4+4] cycloaddition of anthracene and can be used as recyclable catalysts.

Host–guest complexation between two 1,5-dinaphtho-crown ethers and two paraquat derivatives has been studied. By self-assembly of 1,5-dinaphtho-44-crown-12 (DNP44C12) 1 with vinylogous viologen 4, a linear [2]pseudorotaxane array forms in the solid state by PF6− anion linkages. Moreover, the complexation between 1,5-dinaphtho-50-crown-14 (DNP50C14) 2 and paraquat 3 also leads to the formation of a linear [2]pseudorotaxane superstructure in the solid state driven by π–π stacking.

Bis(crown ether) homoditopic monomers containing two bis(p-phenylene)-34-crown-10 moieties with different angles (180° for monomer 3, 120° for monomer 4, and 60° for monomer 5) and a complementary bisparaquat homoditopic monomer (7) were designed and synthesized. The three bis(crown ether) monomers could organize into linear supramolecular polymers in concentrated solutions in CHCl3/CH3CN with the bisparaquat monomer 7, as demonstrated by 1H NMR and viscosity studies. The pseudorotaxanes or supramolecular polymers formed from 3+7 and 4+7 had larger values of Ka, p, n, slope 1, and slope 2 than those of 5+7. This result was attributed to the greater steric hindrance of compound 5 than that of 3 and 4, which resulted in less effective formation of linear supramolecular polymers from 5 with compound 7 than those from compounds 3 and 4 with compound 7, as also demonstrated by UV-vis method.

Organic solvent soluble gold nanoparticles based on pillar[5]arenes were prepared for the first time. They can reversibly aggregate and disassemble based on photo[4+4] cycloaddition of anthracene and can be used as recyclable catalysts.