Copyright © The Nobel Foundation 1988.—We thank the Nobel Foundation, Stockholm, for permission to print this lecture.
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Review
The Design of Molecular Hosts, Guests, and Their Complexes (Nobel Lecture)†
Article first published online: 30 DEC 2003
DOI: 10.1002/anie.198810093
Copyright © 1988 by VCH Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, Germany
Issue
Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English
Volume 27, Issue 8, pages 1009–1020, August 1988
Additional Information
How to Cite
Cram, D. J. (1988), The Design of Molecular Hosts, Guests, and Their Complexes (Nobel Lecture). Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English, 27: 1009–1020. doi: 10.1002/anie.198810093
- †
Publication History
- Issue published online: 30 DEC 2003
- Article first published online: 30 DEC 2003
- Manuscript Received: 24 FEB 1988
- Abstract
- References
- Cited By
Keywords:
- Nobel lecture;
- Host–guest chemistry;
- Macrocycles;
- Supramolecular chemistry
The founders of “supramolecular chemistry” include Charles J. Pedersen, Donald J. Cram, and Jean-Marie Lehn, who shared the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1987 for their fundamental research in this area of organic chemistry. Their work focused the attention of many chemists on the cavities formed by certain types of molecules. Cations, anions, or neutral molecules can enter the cavities of specifically designed compounds and are held there by intermolecular forces. It is fully justified, therefore, to compare such compounds to biomolecules. How the development began, how it achieved its first successes, and what fascinating possibilities lie in store for future research are discussed by Pedersen and Cram in this issue and by Lehn in the January issue (page 89 ff.). The most recent results from Lehn's research are also reported, appropriately, in this issue.