Self-assembled calixarene-based guest-host assemblies for guest storage by van der Waals confinement

A method of forming a guest-host assembly and releasing a guest component from said guest-host assembly, comprising:

• (a) providing a generally spherical host assembly formed of trimers of calixarene molecules in a hexagonal close-packed assembly of said trimers associated together predominantly by van der Waals forces to provide at least one dilated channel having a void volume within the range of 100-200 Å3;
• (b) infusing a guest component into the dilated channel of said host assembly to provide a guest-host assembly in which said guest component is retained in said assembly predominantly by van der Waals forces and is stable at a temperature of at least 200° C.;
• (c) heating said guest-host assembly to a temperature in excess of 200° C., which is sufficient to destabilize said guest-host assembly and release the molecules of said guest component;
• (d) cooling said host assembly molecules and reassembling said molecules to form a generally spherical assembly formed of trimers of said calixarene molecules in a hexagonal close-packed assembly of said trimers associated together predominantly by van der Waals forces to provide at least one dilated channel having a void volume within the range of 100-200 Å3;
• and
• (e) infusing a guest component in the dilated channel of said host assembly to provide a guest-host assembly in which said guest component is retained in said assembly predominantly by van der Waals forces and is stable at a temperature of at least 200° C.

A method of forming a guest-host assembly and releasing a guest component from said guest-host assembly, comprising:

• (a) providing a generally spherical host assembly formed of trimers of calix[4]arene molecules in a hexgonal close-packed assembly of said trimers associated together predominantly by van der Waals forces to provide at least one dilated channel having a void volume within the range of 100-200 Å3;
• (b) infusing a guest component into the dilated channel of said host assembly to provide a guest-host assembly in which said guest component is retained in said assembly predominantly by van der Waals forces and is stable at a temperature of at least 150° C.;
• and
• (c) heating said guest-host assembly to a temperature in excess of 150° C., which is above the boiling point of said guest component and is sufficient to destabilize said guest-host assembly and release the molecules of said guest component.