Calixarenes are cyclic oligomers composed of phenol units linked by methylene bridges. Because of their unique host-guest recognition ability, calixarenes are considered to be the main representatives of the third generation of supramolecular chemistry after crown ethers and cyclodextrins. Calixarenes are widely used in ion channel as well as in organic catalytic reactions, transmembrane transport, purification, and chromatographic separation. A variety of versatile calixarene derivatives with different recognition ability and special selectivity were prepared by modifying different types of compounds due to calixarenes are easy to derivatize. These derivatives were successfully applied to different chromatographic modes to achieve the separation and analysis of complex samples. This review summarizes the recent advances in stationary phases based on calixarenes and their derivatives for liquid chromatography The prospects of calixarenes in chromatographic separation science are also presented.
Keywords: calixarenes; heteracalixaromatics; review; stationary phase.