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Nanocapsules with molecules threaded through the porous shells may lead to advanced cell-mimicking functional devices. Herein, we show the feasibility of synthesizing such hybrid nanostructures by using vesicle-templated polymer nanocapsules with controlled nanopores. Ship-in-a-bottle assembly inside a nanocapsule created an internal unit. An external unit was then connected to an entrapped internal unit through pre-attached linker threaded through a nanopore in the shell of the nanocapsule. Both internal and external units are larger than the pore size and cannot cross the shell, producing a rotaxane-like structure. Successful synthesis was achieved with fairly short linkers (six and ten carbon atoms in a chain), creating an opportunity for facile synthesis of functional devices capable of cross-shell communication.

Large molecules can be assembled from small components exclusively inside hollow nanocapsules with the help of entrapped catalysts. Phenyl isocyanates enter the capsules through nanopores in the capsule shells and form cyclic trimers that remain entrapped. No assembly happens outside the nanocapsules. Further functionalization of trimers produces functional hierarchical nanomaterials.