Presented here is a small collection of promising task-specific calixarenes to be applied in biomedical and high-tech fields.
Calixarenes belong to the family of macrocyclic compounds, characterized by their unique cup-shaped structure and inherent flexibility in molecular design. The discovery of calixarenes in the 20th century opened up a treasure trove of opportunities in various scientific disciplines, from catalysis and supramolecular chemistry to drug delivery and environmental remediation.
Calixarenes are readily available through the cyclocondensation of para-substituted phenols with formaldehyde (Fig. 1). They are widely used as molecular platforms for constructing specific receptors capable of highly selective recognition between somewhat similar substrates.
There exist well-documented applications of the calixarenes in the following fields:
- Reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel: recovery cesium, americium
- Chemosensors: electronic nose and tongue
- Separation and purification: chromatography, chiral technologies
- Catalysis: phase transfer, metal complexing, chiral catalysis
- Nanotechnologies: Langmuir-Blodgett films, nanoparticles, electron beam lithography
- Optoelectronics: nonlinear optics materials
- Gases storage: H2, CH4, COx, NOx
- Pharmaceuticals and nanomedicine: drug design, diagnostics, delivery systems
- Fluorescent probes
Carrying out calixarene-related research, Life Chemicals has developed a selection of its 95 % pure calixarene building blocks, with some examples shown in Fig. 2. Additionally, scale-up synthesis of calixarene compounds can be offered.
Please, contact us at orders@lifechemicals.com for any additional information and price quotations.
More details on calixarene applications can be found in a special booklet devoted to this topic.
Please refer to our MedChem blog on Building Blocks and Custom synthesis for further reading.
Figure 1. Calixarene synthesis and possible rim modifications.
Calixarenes in drug discovery
Calixarenes are a class of macrocyclic substances with excellent drug carrier properties, and, in particular, they demonstrate low cytotoxicity and no hemolytic activity. Calixarenes are easily functionalized at various sites on the upper and lower rims [1]. Calixarenes and their derivatives are used as carriers for anti-cancer, anti-convulsant, anti-hypertensive, anthelmintic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antipsychotic drugs. They are important biocompatible receptors to improve solubility chemical reactivity and decrease the cytotoxicity of poorly soluble drugs in supramolecular chemistry [2].
Figure 2. Representative calixarene-based building blocks by Life Chemicals.
References
- Xiaonan Fan;Xia Guo; (2021). Development of calixarene-based drug nanocarriers. Journal of Molecular Liquids, Volume 325, 1 March 2021, 115246.doi:10.1016/j.molliq.2020.115246
- Hussain MA, Ashraf MU, Muhammad G, Tahir MN, Bukhari SNA. Calixarene: A Versatile Material for Drug Design and Applications. Curr Pharm Des. 2017;23(16):2377-2388. doi: 10.2174/1381612822666160928143328. PMID: 27779081.