A supramolecular bottlebrush polymer has been constructed in water through the self-assembly of a rigid electron-deficient building block and an electron-rich monomer which bears two tetraethylene glycol chains, driven by CB[8]-encapsulation-enhanced donor–acceptor interaction. The as-formed supramolecular bottlebrush polymer has been characterized by 1H NMR titration experiment, UV–vis spectroscopy, DLS and 2D 1H NMR DOSY.Download high-res image (61KB)Download full-size imageA supramolecular bottlebrush polymer has been constructed in water through cucurbit[8]uril-mediated self-assembly of a rigid electron-deficient building block and an electron-rich monomer which bears two tetraethylene glycol chains.