MOLECULAR CONTAINER COMPOUNDS

Rigid, hollow organic host compounds have been designed and synthesized with interior cavities large enough to incarcerate organic guest compounds. Some of these hosts are closed-surface spheres whose guest molecules are permanently incarcerated during synthesis. Other hosts contain portals in their shells, shaped to allow the passage only of complementary guest molecules between the inner and bulk phases. The inner phases uniquely constrain guest movements, provide a medium for reactions, and shelter molecules that self-destruct in bulk phases.