Abstract: Alkylation reactions involving active methylene compounds and alkyl halides in aqueous NaOH solution have been developed by using the water-soluble calix [n] arenes (n= 4, 6 and 8) as inverse phase-transfer catalysts, which contains trimethylammoniomethyl groups on the upper rim. Key words: water-soluble calixarenes, inverse phase-transfer catalysis, alkylations, active methylene compounds, alkyl halides
