Conformational Selection as the Mechanism of Guest Binding in a Flexible Supramolecular Host

This study offers a detailed mechanistic investigation of host-guest encapsulation behavior in a new enzyme-mimetic metal-ligand host and provides the first observation of a conformational selection mechanism (as opposed to induced fit) in a supramolecular system. The Ga4L4 host described features a C3-symmetric ligand motif with meta-substituted phenyl spacers, which enables the host to initially self-assemble into an S4-symmetric structure and...