= Solution
\b[<zinc>(II) should bind more strongly to 1.] The <macrocycle> presents six <amine> donors that can chelate the dication in a roughly octahedral environment. Multiple donor contacts, the <chelate effect> and preorganization favour this binding. <lithium> is small and strongly prefers an appropriately sized oxygen-rich pocket; it gains less from this large nitrogen-donor cavity. Charge density alone is insufficient to rank the complexes: donor type, geometry, solvation and the strain of wrapping the host around each <ion> also matter.
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