A new structural motif for an enantiomerically pure metallosupramolecular Pd₄L₈ aggregate by anion templating.

An enantiomerically pure BINOL-based bis(3-pyridyl) ligand 1 assembles into a homochiral [Pd4(1)8] complex upon coordination to tetravalent Pd(II) ions. The formation of this aggregate is templated by two tetrafluoroborate counterions that are encapsulated in two peripheral cavities. The resulting structure is a new structural motif for this kind of metallosupramolecular assemblies that arranges the palladium ions in a distorted tetrahedral fashion and forces ligand 1 to adopt two different conformations. Both phenomena are unique and cause an overall three-dimensional structure that has another confined, chiral, and hydrophilic central cavity.