Molecular self-assembly is a topic of current interest in supramolecular chemistry. Calixarenes taken as the third general artificial synthetic receptors, following crown ethers and cyclodextrins, have been well explored in molecular self-assembly. The central issue of this paper is to review the progress on molecular assembly based on calixarene derivatives, which covers the self-assembly of calixarenes in solution, solid as well as surface through hydrogen bonding, metal-induced force, π-π interactions, hydrophobic interactions as well as other non-covalently weaker forces.

Key words: calixarene, supramolecular chemistry, review, molecular self-assembly