Pre- and post-modification of mixed cyclodextrin-calixarene co-polymers: a route towards tunability

Various pre-modified and post-modified cyclodextrin-calixarene hyper-reticulated co-polymers were synthesized, fully characterized by different techniques (FT-IR, 13C{1H} CP-MAS and LGFS solid-state NMR, thermogravimetry, porosimetry), and tested to assess their absorption abilities as nanosponges. The construction of the polymer network was accomplished exploiting the well-known CuAAC reaction between two different heptakis-6-azido--cyclodextrins and two different propargyloxy-calix[4]arenes. Post-modification was aimed to achieve the presence of ionizable (acidic or basic) groups on the polymer framework. Sequestration tests towards two model pollutant molecules surprisingly showed that both pristine and post-modified materials actually possess the abilities to act as pH-tunable nanosponges.