The structures of four inclusion compounds of trans-9,10-dihydroxy-9,10-diphenyl-9,10-dihydroanthracene with 2-butanone (1), 4-vinylpyridine (2), 4-methylpyridine (3) and 2-methylpyridine (4) have been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and their thermal decomposition investigated by X-ray powder diffractometry, thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry. Crystal data are: (1), C26H20O2.C4H8O, M(r) = 436.55, triclinic, P1BAR, a = 7.924 (1), b = 8.827 (2), c = 9.050 (1) angstrom, alpha = 109.93 (2), beta = 97.31 (1), gamma = 97.65 (1)-degrees, V = 579.5 (2) angstrom-3, Z = 1, D(m) = 1.248 (4), D(x) = 1.251 Mg m-3, Mo K-alpha, lambda = 0.7107 angstrom, mu = 0.074 mm-1, F(000) = 232, T = 294 K, final R = 0.059 (wR = 0.077) for 1690 independent reflections; (2), C26H20O2.2C7H7N, M(r) = 574.72, monoclinic, P2(1)/c, a = 10.045 (2), b = 18.630 (3), c = 8.419 (4) angstrom, beta = 96.29 (3)-degrees, V = 1566.0 (9) angstrom-3, Z = 2, D(m) = 1.208 (3), D(x) = 1.219 Mg m-3, Mo K-alpha, lambda = 0.7107 angstrom, mu = 0.070 mm-1, F(000) = 608, T = 294 K, final R = 0.054 (wR = 0.066) for 1655 independent reflections; (3), C26H20O2.2C6H7N, M(r) = 550.67, triclinic, P1BAR, a = 8.371 (5), b = 9.599 (2), c = 10.182 (2) angstrom, alpha = 71.12 (1), beta = 82.05 (3), gamma = 74.45 (3)-degrees, V = 744.6 (5) angstrom-3, Z = 1, D(m) = 1.226 (3), D(x) = 1.228 Mg m-3, Mo K-alpha, lambda = 0.7107 angstrom, mu = 0.070 mm-1, F(000) = 292, T = 294 K, final R = 0.041 (wR = 0.040) for 1932 independent reflections; (4), C26H20O2.C6H7N, M(r) = 457.57, triclinic, P1BAR, a = 9.337 (2), b = 10.407 (3), c = 13.470 (9) angstrom, alpha = 70.75 (3), beta = 87.65 (3), gamma = 73.58 (2)-degrees, V = 1183.2 (9) angstrom-3, Z = 2, D(m) = 1.271 (4), D(x) = 1.284 Mg m-3, Mo K-alpha, lambda = 0.7107 angstrom, mu = 0.074 mm-1, F(000) = 484, T = 294 K, final R = 0.060 (wR = 0.065) for 2530 independent reflections. For compounds (2)-(4), a qualitative inverse correlation between the O...N hydrogen-bond distances and DELTA-H of the guest-release reaction is observed.