Cryptophanes are a class of
organic
Organic may refer to:
* Organic, of or relating to an organism, a living entity
* Organic, of or relating to an anatomical organ
Chemistry
* Organic matter, matter that has come from a once-living organism, is capable of decay or is the product ...
supramolecular compounds studied and synthesized primarily for
molecular encapsulation
In supramolecular chemistry, molecular encapsulation is the confinement of a guest molecule inside the cavity of a supramolecular host molecule (molecular capsule, molecular container or cage compounds). Examples of supramolecular host molecule ...
and recognition. One possible noteworthy application of cryptophanes is encapsulation and storage of
hydrogen
Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, an ...
gas for potential use in
fuel cell
A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent (often oxygen) into electricity through a pair of redox reactions. Fuel cells are different from most batteries in requ ...
automobiles. Cryptophanes can also serve as containers in which organic chemists can carry out
reactions
Reaction may refer to a process or to a response to an action, event, or exposure:
Physics and chemistry
*Chemical reaction
*Nuclear reaction
*Reaction (physics), as defined by Newton's third law
*Chain reaction (disambiguation).
Biology and me ...
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
Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology an ...
applications.
Discovery
Cryptophanes were discovered by
André Collet and Jacqueline Gabard in 1981 when these researchers created, using template-directed synthesis, the first cryptophane, now known as cryptophane-A.
Structure
Cryptophane cages are formed by two cup-shaped
.1.1ortho
cyclophane
In organic chemistry, a cyclophane is a hydrocarbon consisting of an aromatic unit (typically a benzene ring) and a chain that forms a bridge between two non-adjacent positions of the aromatic ring. More complex derivatives with multiple aromatic ...
units (see
cyclotriveratrylene),
connected by three bridges (denoted ''Y''). There are also choices of the peripheral substitutes ''R1'' and ''R2'' attached to the aromatic rings of the units. Most cryptophanes exhibit two
diastereomeric forms (''syn'' and ''anti''), distinguished by their
symmetry
Symmetry (from grc, συμμετρία "agreement in dimensions, due proportion, arrangement") in everyday language refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance. In mathematics, "symmetry" has a more precise definit ...
type. This general scheme offers a variety of choices (''Y'', ''R1'', ''R2'', and symmetry type) by which the shape, volume and chemical properties of the generally hydrophobic pocket inside the cage can be modified, making cryptophanes suitable for encapsulating many types of small molecules and even chemical reactions.
General classification
Depending on their structure, cryptophane cages are classified according to the following table.
[
]
Symmetry
The anti cryptophane isomer belongs to the D3 point group and the syn cryptophane isomer belongs to the C3h point group.[Peter Atkins, J. D. P., ''Atkins' Physical Chemistry''. Oxford: 2010.] Both molecules therefore do not exhibit a dipole moment.
References
{{Reflist
Supramolecular chemistry
Hydrogen
Cyclophanes