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 either adamantyl groups or monoaza-18-crown-6 macrocydes, can be self-assembled 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.