Is the tert-butyl group bulky enough to end-cap a pseudorotaxane with a 24-crown-8-ether wheel?

Although rotaxane chemists have long believed that the tert-butyl group is bulkier than the cavity of dibenzo-24-crown-8-ether (DB24C8), it is essentially smaller than the cavity of DB24C8. The tert-butyl (or 4-tert-butylphenyl) group can actually function as an end-cap of DB24C8-based rotaxanes when the intercomponent interaction is effectively operative. When such attractive interaction is removed, deslippage occurs. [structure: see text]