Pillar height dependent formation of unprecedented Pd8 molecular swing and Pd6 molecular boat via multicomponent self-assembly.

Three-component self-assembly of a cis-blocked 90° Pd(II) acceptor with a mixture of a tetraimidazole and a linear dipyridyl donor self-discriminated into unusual Pd(8) molecular swing (1) and Pd(6) molecular boat (2), which are characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis; their ability to bind C(60) in solution is established by fluorescence titration.