Disclosed is a novel family of macrocyclic compounds, coined calixurenes, which comprises linear and cyclic oligomers composed of alternating moieties of an aromatic unit and a ureatic unit, linked to one another via a bridging moiety.The disclosed calixurenes feature multiple heteroatom-containing groups, and can be designed so as to feature other functionalities, and can thus be used in a variety of applications. Further disclosed are processes of preparing the calixurenes, articles containing same and uses thereof.