Attention is drawn to the need of detailed thermodynamics in calixarene chemistry. The reasons for increasing efforts in this area are underlined and suggestions for new issues to be addressed are given. The solution thermodynamics of p-tert-butylcalix[n]arenes (n=4, 6, 8) is discussed with particular reference to transfer Gibbs energies which reflect the selective solvation that the tetramer and the octamer undergo in the various solvents. This is followed by recent solution studies on amine-p-tert-butylcalix[n]arene (n=4, 6, 8) in nitrobenzene and in benzonitrile at 298.15 K which indicate the lower acidic character of the tetramer relative to the hexamer and the octamer in these solvents. As an implication of these results, very low conductivities are observed in studies involving the interaction of the former with amines. Thus, thermodynamic studies suggest that p-tert-butylcalix[4]arene interacts with triethylamine in benzonitrile and in nitrobenzene through hydrogen bonding or ion-pair formation. A thermodynamic cycle is used to investigate the effect associated with the interaction of the amine with the tetramer in these solvents. © 1994 Kluwer Academic Publishers.