Microporous materials, single molecule templates

Organic cations are able to complex silicate anions to form silicate complexes. These complexes can condense to form ultimately microporous zeolite structures. Different templat-ing molecules may form different microcavities. Hence zeolite synthesis is an example of template-directed synthesis. Mesoporous materials can be prepared by using nanometersized micelles preorganized as hquid crystals as a template rather than a single molecule template. 

USE OF SINGLE MOLECULES AS TEMPLATES TO SYNTHESIZE MICROPOROUS MATERIALS... 

The use of single molecules or ions as templates results in materials with the smallest pore sizes (typically less than Inm), and hence they are called microporous according to the lUPAC definitions. Most microporous materials synthesized to date are zeolites. 

---