Self-Assembled Nanotubes that Reversibly Bind Acetic Acid Guests

A large bis-urea macrocycle was synthesized and assembled into columnar nanotubes containing a sizable cavity. This purely organic nanotube is held together primarily by hydrogen bonding and yet shows remarkable thermal stability up to 180 °C in the presence and absence of acetic acid guest. This enables the nanotube to be used as reusable organic zeolite