Conformational Behavior and Binding Properties of Naphthalene-Walled Clips

The conformational behavior and binding properties of various clipshaped receptor molecules, based on the building block diphenylglycoluril, were studied by NMR, X-ray analysis, and computational techniques. The conformation and the binding properties of these clips are dependent on the number and type of side walls. Host molecules with two naphthalene side walls and with methoxy groups at the 2- and 7-position are able to bind aromatic guests and silver ions by an induced-fit mechanism.