Ordered porous inorganic compounds can now be synthesized with pore sizes between 0.3 nm and several tens of nanometers. The sharp pore size distribution of such materials and the ordered pore arrangement open possibilities for using them to organize matter on the nanometer scale. This overview highlights different aspects of this topic, using four selected examples: the spatial organization of molecules with high molecular hyperpolarizability to create a frequency-doubling element; the encapsulation of a laser dye which results in a new class of solid-state lasers; the encapsulation of small metal clusters in mesoporous ordered oxides; and the encapsulation of semiconductor clusters in such oxides. #

Ordered porous inorganic compounds can now be synthesized with pore sizes between 0.3 nm and several tens of nanometers. The sharp pore size distribution of such materials and the ordered pore arrangement open possibilities for using them to organize matter on the nanometer scale. This overview highlights different aspects of this topic, using four selected examples: the spatial organization of molecules with high molecular hyperpolarizability to create a frequency‐doubling element; the encapsulation of a laser dye which results in a new class of solid‐state lasers; the encapsulation of small metal clusters in mesoporous ordered oxides; and the encapsulation of semiconductor clusters in such oxides. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.