Self-assembled Pd6 open cage with triimidazole walls and the use of its confined nanospace for catalytic Knoevenagel- and Diels-Alder reactions in aqueous medium.

The two-component self-assembly of a 90° Pd(II) acceptor and a triimidazole donor led to the formation of a water-soluble semi-cylindrical cage with a hydrophobic cavity, which was separately crystallized with hydrophilic- and hydrophobic guests. The parent cage was found to catalyze the Knoevenagel condensation reaction of a series of aromatic mono-aldehydes with active methylene compounds, such as Meldrum's acid or 1,3-dimethylbarbituric acid. The confined hydrophobic nanospace within this cage was also used in the catalytic Diels-Alder reactions of 9-hydroxymethylanthracene with N-phenylmaleimide or N-cyclohexylmaleimide.