Preparation and biological activity of novel cucurbit[8]uril–fullerene complex

The synthesis of a novel cucurbit[8]uril(CB8)–fullerene[60] supramolecular complex using a simple and efficient pathway is reported for the first time. In the complex, which was found to be of the 1:2 type, the compounds interact weekly with each other. The complex was characterized by UV/Vis, FTIR, elemental analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TEM analysis shows that the average particle diameter is about 19 nm. The in vitro antitumour activity of the complex has been tested and the result shows that the complex exhibits better antitumour activity against HeLa cells. The antitumour mechanism of the complex was investigated for the first time.