What is "calixarene"

n. (context organic chemistry English) Any of a class of organic macrocycle containing a ring of phenol groups linked by a short bridge; they mimic some properties of enzymes, and have many other applications.

A calixarene is a macrocycle or cyclic oligomer based on a hydroxyalkylation product of a phenol and an aldehyde.

The word calixarene is derived from calix or chalice because this type of molecule resembles a vase and from the word arene that refers to the aromatic building block. Calixarenes have hydrophobic cavities that can hold smaller molecules or ions and belong to the class of cavitands known in host-guest chemistry. Calixarene nomenclature is straightforward and involves counting the number of repeating units in the ring and include it in the name. A calix[4]arene has 4 units in the ring and a calix[6]arene has 6. A substituent in the meso position R is added to the name with a prefix C- as in C-methylcalix[6]arene.