THE SELF-ASSEMBLY OF SOME NOVEL [2]ROTAXANES AND THEIR ALKALI-METAL CATION COMPLEXATION

[2]Rotaxanes, in which cyclobis(paraquat-p-phenylene) encircles multi- topic dumbbell components wherein a polyether chain is intercepted by a hydroquinone ring and terminated by amide functions attached to eith er adamantyl groups or monoaza-18-crown-6 macrocydes, can be self-asse mbled by slippage in acetonitrile solution at +50 degrees C, provided alkali metal cations, such as Na+ and K+, are absent: furthermore, the X-ray crystal structure of a novel bis(monoaza-18-crown-6)-containing [2]rotaxane has also been obtained.