Self-assembly of conformation-adaptive dihydrophenazine-based coordination cages

In this study, we designed and synthesized three conformation-adaptive Pd₂L₄- and Pd₃L₆-type coordination cages based on three dihydrophenazine-based ligands with different lengths. Interestingly, the shorter ligands L1 and L2 self-assembled into Pd₂L₄-type coordination cages while the longer ligand L3 formed Pd₃L₆-type one, mainly driven by the anion template effect. All coordination cages were confirmed through single-crystal X-ray diffraction, and their structural conformations underwent great changes compared with those of their corresponding ligands. Moreover, the conformational changes also significantly affected their photophysical and electrochemical properties which were distinct from their parent ligands.