Calixarenes and their biomimetic applications

The synthetic models for the structures, spectroscopic properties and catalytic activities of metalloprotein active sites have been reviewed. Calixarenes were used as new biomimetic catalysts because of their advantage of providing preorganization of the catalytic group, which can bind the substrate dynamically that results in fast turnover and fast release of the products. Functional and structural models based on calixarenes are presented and in addition importance of molecular recognition and non-covalent interactions e.g. hydrogen bonding and their role in biological systems are discussed with the help of synthetic systems.