Planar pyridyl N-oxides are encapsulated in monometallic Pd II /Pt II -cages based on atetra-pyridyl calix[4]pyrrole ligand. The exchange dynamics of the cage complexes are slow on both the NMR chemical shift and EXSY timescales,b ut encapsulation of the guests by the cages is fast on the human timescale.A"French doors" mechanism, involving the rotation of the meso-phenyl walls of the cages,allows the passage of the planar guests.T he encapsulation of quinuclidine N-oxide, as terically more demanding guest, is slower than pyridyl Noxides in the Pd II -cage,a nd does not take place in the Pt II counterpart. Am odification of the encapsulation mechanism for the quinuclidine N-oxidei sp ostulated that requires the partial dissociation of the Pd II -cage.T he substrate binding selectivity featured by the cages is related to their different guest uptake/release mechanisms.Oneof the aims of metal-organic self-assembly is the design of molecular containers with tailored or external-stimuli controlled guest exchange dynamics. [1][2][3][4] In this regard, understanding the exchange mechanisms that are operative in metallo-cages allows their tuning to improve specific functions.T he features shown by metallo-cages are of wide interest for applications in binding selectivity,controlled drug delivery and modulation of reactivity of bound species,among others. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Thethermodynamic and kinetic stability of metal coordination cages depends on both the ligands (L) and the metal ions used in their assembly.T he properties of the included guests may also influence the stabilities of the corresponding cage complexes. [12] Pd II /Pt II -cages based on pyridyl ligands are thermodynamically and kinetically stable.The pyridyl NÀPd II bond is labile,whereas the N À Pt II counterpart is more inert at ambient conditions. [13,14] Fore xample,t he energy barrier for the dissociation of pyridyl ligands is ca. 22 kcal mol À1 in abanana-shaped [L 4 ·Pd 2 ] 4+ cage. [15] In contrast, the octahedral [L 4 ·Pt 6 ] 12+ cage does not show signs of dissociative processes at room temperature (rt). [16] Raymond and co-workers investigated the guest exchange mechanisms of at etrahedral [L 6 ·Ga 4 ] 12À cage.S mall cationic guests,s uch as NEt 4 + ,are bound reversibly to [L 6 ·Ga 4 ] 12À via as lippage mechanism (i.e., deformation of ac agesf ace) featuring exchange rate constants k = 10 À3 to 10 s À1 at rt. A sterically demanding guest, such as [CoCp* 2 ] + ,w hich likely requires partial ligand-metal dissociation, has adramatically decreased exchange rate,b ut the larger guest can still be displaced from the cagesc avity to the bulk solution. [17,18] Related exchange pathways were found by other groups using self-assembled capsules and cages. [19][20][21][22] We became interested in exploring the guest inclusion and exchange pathways of am ono-metallic Pd II -cage,[ 1·Pd] 2+ (Figure 1). [23] [1·Pd] 2+ features two converging polar binding sites,d efined by four pyrrole NHs of the calix[4]pyrrole core [24] and four inwardly-directed...