Encapsulation of guests within a gated molecular basket: thermodynamics and selectivity.

Molecular basket 1 has been designed to contain a set of aromatic gates, each with rotational mobility restricted via intramolecular hydrogen bonding. This structural, yet dynamic, feature of the host has been revealed to permit the formation of a transient enclosed space capable of containing haloalkanes, whose size/shape, electronic and entropic attributes contributed to the thermodynamics of binding. Markedly, the basket is capable of mediating the trafficking of a broad range of molecules.