Design and Synthesis of Transition Metal and Inner Transition Metal Binding Calixarenes

Calixarenes, macrocycles containing a preorganized central cavity, are often used to bind molecular and ionic guests. Though these guests are mostly limited to alkali metal or organic cations, and solvents, it is possible to assemble transition metal coordination complexes from calixarene derivatives. This review will illustrate how careful design strategies can be employed to devise target compounds and focus on synthetic approaches to prepare the desired calixarene derivatives.