Inclusion compounds

Since late 1994, significant progress has been made toward the design, synthesis, and characterization of new inclusion compounds, including systems that exhibit guest exchange properties akin to zeolites, ferroelasticity (domain reorientation under applied stress) and selectivity for specific chemical reactions. Although efforts in this field have been slowed somewhat by the difficult (and sometimes intractable) nature of many crystal structures of inclusion compounds, progress has been fostered by recent advances in X-ray diffraction equipment and in the use of combined methods of structure determination. Just as with single-component molecular crystals, reliable prediction of the structures of new inclusion compounds remains an elusive goal that awaits more sophisticated computational techniques and more reliable intermolecular potentials.