Schulte, Thorben R.Holstein, Julian J.Schneider, LauraAbdulselam Adam, AbdulselamHaberhauer, GebhardClever, Guido H.2021-07-162021-07-162020-08-26http://hdl.handle.net/2003/4032110.17877/DE290R-22196Most metallo-supramolecular assemblies of low nuclearity adopt simple topologies, with bridging ligands spanning neighboring metal centers in a direct fashion. Here we contribute a new structural motif to the family of host compounds with low metal count (two) that consists of a pair of doubly-interlocked, Figure-eight-shaped subunits, also termed “lemniscates”. Each metal is chelated by two chiral bidentate ligands, composed of a peptidic macrocycle that resembles a natural product with two pyridyl-terminated arms. DFT calculation results suggest that dimerization of the mononuclear halves is driven by a combination of 1) Coulomb interaction with a central anion, 2) π-stacking between intertwined ligand arms and 3) dispersive interactions between the structure's compact inner core bedded into an outer shell composed of the cavitand-type macrocycles. The resulting cage-like architecture was characterized by NMR, MS and X-ray structure analyses. This new mechanically bonded system highlights the scope of structural variety accessible in metal-mediated self-assemblies composed of only a few constituents.enAngewandte Chemie International Edition;Vol. 59. 2020, Issue 50, pp 22489-22493https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/CatenaneCoordination cageChiralityMechanical bondSupramolecular chemistry540article (journal)