The present thesis is divided in two different parts. Part 1 is titled the importance of ligand design for the development of supramolecular catalysts. This part includes three different chapters: introduction chapter 1, chapter 2 and chapter 3. Chapter 1 shows a brief overview of the most interesting items related to supramolecular catalysis. In chapter 2 is described the synthesis and characterization of three different p-xylylbis-benzimidazolylidene iridium and rhodium complexes. Chapter 3 reports the synthesis, characterization and catalytic studies of different palladium, iridium and rhodium complexes, which are formed by N-heterocyclic ligands featuring different topologies, and some of them decorated with pyrene functionalities. The importance and influence of these ligands in the conformational and catalytic behaviour of the metal complexes is studied in detail, providing evidences of the effects produces due to non-covalent interactions such as π-π interactions. Part 2 is titled the importance of ligand design for the development of ion receptors. This part includes three chapters: introduction chapter 4, chapter 5 and chapter 6. Chapter 4 is a brief introduction of the most relevant aspects related to supramolecular host-guest chemistry. The approaches described in chapter 5 consist of two different strategies for the preparation of imidazole resorcinarene based cavitands for the recognition of anions or cations. Chapter 6 reports the synthesis of tris-azolium and tris-iodoazolium tripodal receptors for the recognition of anions. In both chapters (5 and 6) are studied the binding capabilities of the receptors towards several ions, showing the importance of the development in ligand design to improve the properties of the receptors.
