Metallacycles Capabilities in Host–Guest Chemistry

Host–guest chemistry encompasses the study of highly structured molecular complexes composed of at least two entities associated by noncovalent interactions, one possessing convergent binding sites, the host, and another possessing divergent binding sites, the guest. Among other species, the host can be a crown ether, calixarene, or metallacycle, whereas the guest can be virtually any small-tomedium size species. The host molecule recognizes those guest entities that contain the array of binding sites and steric features that complement it, with coupling interactions varying from ion–multipole to dispersion forces.