Supramolecular Control of Fullerene Recognition and Reactivity through Nanocapsule Confinement

.In this context, supramolecular confinement not only enables selective fullerene binding but also modifies the guest's accessible surface area, thereby enabling regioselective functionalization via a supramolecular mask strategy and introducing a new level of selectivity. By systematically correlating nanocapsule structure with binding behavior and reaction outcomes, we demonstrate how cavity size matching, window accessibility, and postbinding host-guest interactions can be leveraged to achieve selective encapsulation and predictable regioselectivity in fullerene functionalization. These studies show the potential of the supramolecular control over selectivity and reactivity in highly symmetric guests.The principal remaining challenges include achieving high selectivity for specific substrates and effective discrimination among multiple competing guests through distinct, well-defined binding modes, as well as extending confinement-controlled reactivity to increasingly complex substrates. These challenges will be addressed by developing novel supramolecular containers capable of predictable recognition, enhanced selectivity, and precise control of reactivity within confined environments.