Calixarenes in analytical and separation chemistry

Discovered in the 1940’s, 1_n]metacyclophanes with the common name calixn]arenes which is derived from for the molecule’s shape enjoyed a remarkable interest in almost all fields of chemistry since the 1980’s, which is highlighted by several books 1–8]. Over 50 reviews concerning their synthesis, properties and applicabilities were published, many of those with emphasis on organic synthesis and structural properties are cited in ¶P. 5–6 in 2]. Of interest for analytical chemists are reviews on calixarenes and the structurally related resorcinn]arenes (or calixn]resorcarenes) and calixpyrroles concerning potentiometric sensors 9–12], chromo- and fluorophores 13, 14], molecular switches 15], metal ion binding in solution 16–19], redox properties 20] and anion binding 21–24]. Other recent reviews deal with thermodynamic aspects 25], organometallic compounds 26], P-containing calixarenes 27–29], as well as molecular dynamics modeling 30–33]. It is a vital field with over 200 publications per year. Therefore, this article presents only selected results on complexation, solvent extraction and membrane transport with the emphasis on ion and molecular recognition which can be used for analytical purposes, without attempting to cover all available references.