Cucurbit[5]uril derivatives as oxygen carriers

Cucurbit[n]urils are rigid cage-molecules of pumpkin-like shape, made of n-glycoluril units, able to bind mainly neutral molecules and cations. In this work, we investigate the binding of three cucurbit[5]uril derivatives with dioxygen O₂ and show that one of them, namely per-hydroxylated cucurbit[5]uril, (OH)₁₀CB[5], is able to significantly bind dioxygen gas at physiological temperature, even in the presence of sodium chloride at the concentration of injectable solution in blood. As cucurbit[n]urils studied up to now reveal low toxicity, per-hydroxylated cucurbit[5]uril appears as a promising precursor to design a host able to transport O₂ in a haemoglobin substitute solution.