  We suggest that it might be possible to trap the electron in a cavity of a
macrocycle molecule, in the same way this trapping occurs cooperatively, by
several solvent molecules, in hydroxylic liquids. Such an encapsulated electron
is a "molecular capacitor," in which the excess electron is largely decoupled
from valence electrons in the trap. A specific design for such a trap that is
based on calix[4]cyclohexanol is discussed in detail. It is shown
theoretically, by ab initio and density functional theory (DFT) modeling, that
one of the conformations of this molecule forms the optimum tetrahedral trap
for the electron. The resulting "encapsulated electron" strikingly resembles
the solvated electron in alcohols and water.
