Synthesis of a tubular polymer from threaded cyclodextrins

MUCH attention has been focused recently on the design and fabrication of large-scale molecular structures1. Carbon nanotubes formed by an arc-discharge method2,3 have attracted particular attention. These tubes range from about 1 to 30 nanometres in diameter and a micrometre or so in length. To construct smaller tubes, direct chemical synthesis may be a more convenient approach. The cyclic oligomers of glucose known as cyclodextrins (CDs) would...