Mechanically interlinked supramolecular systems are of interest for the design of systems displaying shape
alteration/adaption.1 Particular appealing are systems reacting on an external trigger and thus, catenanes and
rotaxanes comprising electrochemically addressable subunits have been assembled and displayed redox state
dependant mechanical motions.2 Immobilization of the macrocyclic subunits of rotaxanes comprsing two rings
on flexible cantilevers even allowed translating the electrochemically triggered molecular motion into the
macroscopic bending of the substrate.3 In order to assemble a molecular muscle, Sauvage presented the design
concept of a pseudo-rotaxane.4 By attaching the rotaxane axis at the macrocycle’s periphery he obtained a
system forming a supramolecular dimer in which the axis of one molecule is penetrating the macrocycle of the
other. Functionalization of the subunits with different coordination sites allowed altering the expansion of the
structure by varying the coordinating ion.