Abstract A series of potential cleft-type receptors for dicarboxylate substrates were prepared by attachment of two phenylamidinium ions to either naphthalene or 1, 1′-binaphthalene scaffolds. Their synthesis (Schemes 1–4) involved the Pd 0-catalyzed cross-coupling of aryl nitriles to the central scaffold, followed by transformation of the nitrile into amidinium groups using the Garigipati reaction. The 1, 1′-binaphthalene derivative (±)-1 with ...