Self-Assembly Processes of Octahedron-Shaped Pd 6 L 4 Cages.

The self-assembly processes of two kinds of octahedron-shaped M ₆ L ₄ cages consisting of cis-protected Pd(II) complexes and organic tritopic ligands were investigated. Whether kinetically trapped species larger than the cages are produced or the M ₆ L ₄ cage is assembled without the formation of such kinetic traps is determined by a balance between the rates of oligomerization and intramolecular cyclization, which is affected by slight changes in the chemical structure of the tritopic ligand. A numerical analysis of the experimental data based on a reaction network model where 249 reactions between the possible 56 species were considered revealed the self-assembly pathways of one of the two M ₆ L ₄ cages.