Professor Kimoon Kim (Director, Center for Self-assembly and Complexity, IBS) has published the first textbook on cucurbiturils entitled Cucurbiturils: Chemistry, Supramolecular Chemistry and Applications through the world-renowned World Scientific.

Once considered a peculiarity, cucurbiturils—molecules shaped like a hollow pumpkin—has since been propelled to the forefront of supramolecular chemistry due to their suitability as hosts for an array of neutral and cationic species. For years, Professor Kim, a prominent leader and internationally recognized authority in the field of supramolecular chemistry, has been working on a wide variety of functional materials based on cucurbiturils. In his career, he has published over 260 papers that have amassed over 22,600 citations. Most notably, his paper published in Nature in 2000 was selected as one of the 35 most notable papers among chemical related papers published in Nature from 1950 to 2000.

The textbook chronicles the history and development of cucurbiturils and provides a general introduction and a field-wide overview of the synthesis, properties and applications of the fascinating macrocyclic molecules. Comprised of nine chapters that detail among other topics, preparation, properties and host-guest chemistry, the textbook showcases the uses of cucurbiturils in chemistry, materials science and biology.

Professor Kim expressed his enthusiasm on the publication and commented that the textbook is “an essential resource for both new and experienced researchers, as it provides an overview of the diverse applications, new methodologies and research, as well as challenges in the field.”

The publication is made even more noteworthy because Professor Kim will donate his entire royalty to POSTECH to nurture the next generation of scientists.