Abstract
This workreportson the use of moleculartranslo-catorsto captureadibenzo-24-crown-8(DB24C8)and thenreleaseit ontotargeted molecularaxlesto afford,afterre-movalof the translocator,[2]rotaxanesthat do not holdanytemplate site.Varioustranslocators werestudiedandsuc-cessfully aidedthe synthesis,withmoreor less efficacy,of[2]rotaxanesof different lengths. Duringthe releasingstep,the DB24C8macrocycleshuttlesalongthe thread,and thelocalizationof the macrocycle mightbedrivenby stericre-pulsion on the translocatorpartand/orelectronicattractionof the targeted partof the axleto be encircled,whichde-pendsonboth the natureof the translocatorand the target-ed threadto be encircled.