What is "cryptophane"

n. (context organic chemistry English) Any of a class of large, cage-like compounds that can encapsulate smaller molecules

Cryptophanes are a class of organic supramolecular compounds studied and synthesized primarily for molecular encapsulation and recognition. One possible noteworthy application of cryptophanes is encapsulation and storage of hydrogen gas for potential use in fuel cell automobiles. Cryptophanes can also serve as containers in which organic chemists can carry out reactions that would otherwise be difficult to run under normal conditions. Due to their unique molecular recognition properties, cryptophanes also hold great promise as a potentially new way to study the binding of organic molecules with substrates, particularly as pertaining to biological and biochemical applications.

Cryptophane is a GUI frontend for the GnuPG encryption software. The most recent version was released in August 2009.