Abstract Two dumbbell-shaped components with tetraarylmethane-type stoppers-one hydrophobic and one hydrophilic-and a rod-like section containing a tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) unit and a 1, 5-dioxynaphthalene (DNP) moiety as electron-donating units, and their [2] rotaxanes, incorporating the cyclobis (paraquat-p-phenylene)(CBPQT 4+) cyclophane as their electron-accepting ring component, have been synthesized, the latter using template- ...