Cyclophanes possess a defined cavity size and are efficient in encapsulating and stabilising guest molecules inside the cavity through various non-covalent interactions. This unique property of the cyclophanes has been widely exploited for the development of selective probes for a variety of guest molecules. The present tutorial review highlights the use of various interesting functionalised cyclophane architectures for the sensitive and selective optical recognition of important biomolecules.

M ₄ L ₆ cages built from BODIPY- and pyrene-containing subcomponents perform multiple functions: sensing anions and amino acids, and forming a white-light emitting complex with perylene.