Chemical transformations within isolated nanospaces

Self-assembled cages which produce suitable nanospaces were shown to stabilize otherwise labile compounds, allowing their isolation and study by providing protection from the external aggression of solvent and/or other reactive species in solution. These clusters can accelerate the reaction rate between two encapsulated guests as a result of the dramatically increased concentration and also act as true caatalysts when judiciously chosen reactants are subject to reaction. Most importantly, they provide high control over the stereochemistry of the product.